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Barcelona announced on Tuesday that director of football Mateu Alemany will leave the club at the end of the season to embark on a new professional project.
Sources have told ESPN that Alemany is set to join Unai Emery at Premier League side Aston Villa.
Barca said they will “announce changes in the football executive structure” in due course, with sources adding that sporting director Jordi Cruyff’s long term future is also uncertain.
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Jesus Angoy and Antonio Cordon are among those being considered as possible replacements, but nothing has been decided at this stage.
Barca confirmed the news following a 1-0 win over 10-man Osasuna, which moved them to within two points of the title with five games to go after Real Madrid lost to Real Sociedad later in the day.
Alemany, 60, joined the club in 2021 when Joan Laporta was elected president and oversaw a frantic transfer window last summer, when Barca sold club assets to fund the singings of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde, among others.
Working alongside Cruyff, the transfer guru has received plaudits for putting together a squad which has Barca on the brink of a first LaLiga title since 2019.
Barca said he will leave the club on June 30, making clear it is his decision.
However, as his contract with Barca was supposed to run until 2024, the Blaugrana say Alemany is committed to completing the upcoming transfer window if necessary.
“Alemany will end his time at the club on June 30 to begin a new professional project,” Barca said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Despite having a contract until 2024, Alemany has informed Laporta of his intention to take a new path in his career, but at the same time assuring that he will complete the summer transfer market with the club.
“Therefore, despite formally leaving the club on July 1, thanks to an informal agreement, Alemany has committed himself to completing the first team’s transfer business this summer, even if it should be in the final moments of the transfer window.”
Alemany studied law before moving into football, working for his local LaLiga side Mallorca, first as the CEO and later as the club’s president.
He then moved to Valencia, where he was the director of football between 2017 and 2019, helping put together the squad that beat Barca to win the Copa del Rey in 2019.
After two years out of the game, he joined Barca in 2021 as part of Laporta’s backroom team following the latter’s election as the club’s president for a second time, having previously held the role between 2003 and 2010.
He has faced various financial hurdles while at Camp Nou, while also having to deal with the departure of Lionel Messi, but has found ways to strengthen the squad while working within LaLiga’s strict financial fair play regulations.
In Tuesday’s win over Osasuna — that saw Barca inch ever closer to clinching LaLiga — substitute Jordi Alba struck the only goal of the game in the 85th minute.
“It’s an important step towards the title,” Xavi said in a news conference. “It is almost done. It was important to get six points from these games against Real Betis and Osasuna and we have done that.
“We suffered a bit too much tonight, mind. We missed too many clear chances. Osasuna defended well but, in the end, we got the goal through Jordi. It almost tastes better to win like this sometimes.”