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Aston Villa havenamed Roberto Olabe as their new president of football operations
The move has been announced swiftly after the news that Monchi has left the position at the Premier League club.
Sources close to the Spaniard suggest that he felt he took Villa as far as he could due to financial constraints at the club.
Unai Emery’s side are 18th and winless in the Premier League following their 1-1 draw away at ten-man Sunderland on Sunday.
Villa are beginning to feel the effects of a poor summer transfer window, having been ranked 16th on talkSPORT’s list of all 20 teams.
However, the arrival of Olabe represents a huge coup, having been a previous target of both Arsenal and Real Madrid.
The 57-year-old put European clubs on red alert upon announcing his exit from Real Sociedad at the end of last season.
Since Olabe took on the role of director of football at La Real in March 2018, he has been instrumental in driving the team to a 2020 Copa del Rey victory, securing a Champions League position, and achieving multiple Europa League entries, ultimately leading to high-value player transfers.
The retired goalkeeper turned out for Sociedad as a player, famously alongside Emery during the 1995/96 campaign.
In his initial term as the club’s sporting director, Olabe played a key role in forming the squad that finished just two points shy of Madrid in the 2002/03 LaLiga season, with a standout performance by a young Xabi Alonso.
A young Mikel Arteta was then signed from Rangers, laying the groundwork for his focus on buying Sociedad stars at Arsenal.
Gunners captain Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, and Martin Zubimendi can all credit Olabe for a role in their development.
Olabe helped revive Odegaard’s career
Sociedad enjoyed their most successful stint in decades following Olabe’s return in 2018 for his third spell as sporting director.
Odegaard was a key part of the squad who enjoyed Copa del Rey glory, having been given the platform to revive his career.
The Norwegian hit the headlines in 2015 when he was snapped up by Madrid at 16, but he still hadn’t established himself four years later.
Olabe had studied Odegaard’s adaptation in Real Madrid Castilla and his loan spells at Heerenveen and Vitesse to convince him to join.
In a 2023 interview with the Daily Star, Olabe commented: “Martin had an exceptional understanding of the game. This was his strongest trait. His ability to analyze and respond to what was happening on the field at any moment was remarkable.”
“His game reading skills were superior to individual physical attributes. He could think quickly and adapt, staying a step ahead of rivals who were considered physically faster.”
“It wasn’t just one specific quality like control, receptions, last pass, shooting or set-pieces. His box of attributes was already full, complete.
“Professionally, he possessed outstanding values. He was committed to hard work, teamwork, and had the right mindset for continuous growth.”
“He wanted to be more every single day. With youth players, you usually needed to push that, but not with this guy.”
Odegaard was far from the only young star who revived their career at Sociedad, with Olabe also signing Alexander Isak in 2019.
Within three years, Olabe was involved in negotiating a record-breaking sale of the Swedish player to Newcastle, who later sold him for a record £125m to Liverpool, marking the highest transfer fee in British history.
Olabe helped produce Ecuador’s ‘golden generation’
It’s not just at Sociedad that he has left his mark – having also been the head of sporting strategy at Independiente del Valle.
Olabe helped build the youth system at the Ecuadorian side, which has since produced the likes of Moises Caicedo and Piero Hincapie.
At the 2022 World Cup, 12 of Ecuador’s 26-man squad had a link to Independiente del Valle, with the majority being under the age of 22 at the time of the tournament.
Fittingly, Olabe spent a period assisting Qatar in their World Cup preparations, with the two countries facing off in the opening game.
talkSPORT
