Barcelona president Joan Laporta has heaped praise on Sporting Director Mateu Alemany ahead of his expected move to Aston Villa. The Spaniard will leave the La Liga club at the end of the season and is set to take a new role elsewhere, although it is not yet officially been confirmed, it is expected that he will arrive at Villa imminently. He is expected to work closely with Unai Emery in the transfer window as they look to build a team that can challenge in the top portion of the
Premier League . He is said to already be working on transfers ahead of the summer window, where Villa are expected to flex their financial muscle and back Emery with funds. READ MORE: Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has 'concrete interest' in
Tottenham transfer READ MORE: Aston Villa duo lined up for transfer as Premier League crisis club plots summer rebuild Laporta has been speaking to the Spanish press this morning (Monday), where he has given the latest on Alemany’s move away from
Barcelona in June. “Mateu Alemany is a professional and an honest person,” he said, via Barca Universal . “He's one of the engineers for our success. He accepted a very high offer from the English Premier League." The president then went on to confirm one of the key candidates as his successor at the Nou Camp. "Deco, who already works with us as the club's representative in
Brazil, could make the leap to the technical secretariat,” he said, via Sport . In case he becomes sporting director, he would have to leave his agency. We talked about it some time ago and it seems that now it is better for him.” Over the weekend it was reported by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano that discussions between Deco and Barcelons were ‘progressing well’. The former midfielder was said to be ‘tempted’ by the opportunity after it emerged that Alemany was leaving in the summer. How big of a coup is the Alemany appointment for Villa? Tell us in the comments section READ NEXT: Jacob Ramsey outlines Aston Villa
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