Aston Villa revamp is poised to gather pace
Villa hope to appoint a technical director within the next fortnight as Tony Xia aims to lay the foundations for future success.
The new owner is eager to improve Villa's record in the transfer market and also sees bringing in a talent spotter as key to his plans for global expansion, which will include owning 'feeder' clubs in India, the USA and China.
Incoming chief executive Keith Wyness and new manager Roberto Di Matteo have been involved in the search and expect to have their preferred candidate in post by the middle of next month at the latest.
The arrival of a technical director will almost certainly signal the exit for Paddy Riley, the club's current head of recruitment, who was involved in last summer's disastrous £55million spending spree.
Di Matteo, who worked under a technical director while at Albion, is currently making the decisions on signings but believes it is vital the club put the right structure in place.
"Right now I am going to make the decisions of the players coming in and out but one of the jobs is to put a structure in, to have a process where we go through to acquire players," he said.
"It's not just going to be the manager saying 'I want this guy'.
"It has to be done properly and professionally so we limit the risk of signing players who might not work for the club."
