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Aston Villa correspondent Ashley Preece has been reacting to the club’s reported talks with sporting director Antonio Cordon.
The Lowdown: Cordon for Lange?
Johan Lange is the current sporting director at Villa Park and has been since 2020. The 43-year-old has worked alongside Dean Smith, Steven Gerrard and now Unai Emery, but reports towards the end of 2022 said that his job is hanging by a thread.
Villa have now been linked with a move for Cordon and have held discussions with the sporting director after he announced he was to step down from his role at Real Betis.
The Latest: Preece reacts
Preece took to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to share the news on Cordon. The Birmingham Live reporter described it as ‘quite a big deal’ and said Cordon is ‘the man behind Real Betis’ incredible success in recent seasons’, adding that there could be competition from Barcelona.
“Quite a big deal this as AVFC hold talks with Antonio Cordon, the man behind Real Betis’ incredible success in recent seasons, after he stepped down from his sporting director role this week. Villa face competition from Barca.”
The Verdict: All change…
Christian Purslow is expecting an extremely busy summer at Villa in regards to incomings and outgoings, and it looks as if Cordon could help oversee those changes in place of Lange – he may have been in contact with Villa just last month in the transfer that took Alex Moreno from Real Betis to the Midlands.
As Preece mentions, Cordon signed a number of impressive players during his time at Betis, including Villa-linked Luiz Henrique, so it doesn’t come as a complete shock that Villa are in talks over a move to England, especially following speculation over Lange’s future in recent months.
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