Aston Villa have reached an agreement to appoint Roberto Olabe as their new president of football operations, following strong links to Arsenal earlier this year.
David Ornstein reported for The Athletic on Tuesday that Aston Villa had reached an agreement to appoint Roberto Olabe as their new president of football operations, following the news that Monchi is leaving the position.
Olabe had exited Real Sociedad at the end of last season, and he was heavily linked with a possible move to Arsenal.
Indeed, Ornstein confirms in his latest report that Arsenal had considered Olabe before ultimately appointing Andrea Berta.
In the weeks following Edu Gaspar’s departure from Arsenal, Gianluca Di Marzio reported that Olabe had held talks with the Gunners as a potential replacement.
The Basque media wrote that Olabe had initially intended to take a break from football and enjoy more time with his family at the end of the 2024/25 season, which is why he’d planned to end his association with Sociedad to begin with.
But Arsenal’s proposal was appealing enough to make Olabe reconsider, before the Gunners opted for Berta.
That led to a few months away from the game for Olabe, but he’s now set to join the Premier League with a different club in Aston Villa.
Sami Mokbel reports for the BBC that former Arsenal head coach Unai Emery was involved in picking Olabe as Monchi’s replacement, with the appointment to be officially confirmed imminently.