[devo22]

Both AS and Marca report that Monchi, Sevillas director of football, will leave Sevilla this summer and probably team up with Mourinho at United. Would be extremely interesting to see what Monchi could do at a big club with a lot of money, given that he worked wonders at Sevilla in terms of scouting and finding hidden gems.

Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo is running through the team written on the paper in front of him, smoke rising slowly from the cigarette in his right hand, a Coke bottle on the table. Andrés Palop in goal; a back four of Dani Alves, Federico Fazio, Martin Cáceres and Adriano; Ivan Rakitic, Júlio Baptista, Seydou Keita and Christian Poulsen in midfield; Luís Fabiano and Carlos Bacca up front. All men he signed, for little over €25m (£23.5m). All men he sold too, for around €170m. Then there’s Sergio Ramos, Jesús Navas, Alberto Moreno, Luis Alberto and José Antonio Reyes: players he didn’t need to buy but did need to sell, youth products who raised almost €100m.

In his office is a photograph in which he stands alongside Diego Maradona with whom he became close even though he says he was pretty much the least important person at Sevilla in 1992, “the last monkey: a 23-year-old sub goalkeeper”. These days he’s pretty much the most important person at Sevilla. This morning he has mundane tasks to attend to – the logistics of players’ luggage for Basel – but the man they call Monchi is the sporting director and the architect who transformed the club.

When Monchi took over in 2000, Sevilla faced a financial crisis and had just been relegated. Sixteen years on, they play Liverpool in the Europa League final seeking their third title in a row, their fifth in a decade. Four days later they play Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final. Fourteen finals in 10 years while making the profit their model demands, selling players such as Baptista for a €24m profit or making €17.5m on Rakitic. Until Monchi arrived they had won four trophies ever, none in 52 years and success is what most satisfies: Monchi’s personal perfect XI would include Fredi Kanouté, who made them no money but scored in five finals.

https://www.theguardian.com/football...a-league-final