Christian Purslow leaves his position as Aston Villa CEO | OneFootball

Aston Villa have announced the departure of Chief Executive Officer Christian Purslow who steps down from his position after five years.

Purslow took over the day-to-day running of Villa in September 2018 after NSWE acquired a controlling interest in the club.

The new president of business operations, Chris Heck, will manage off-field matters including revenue and expanding the Villa brand globally.

Owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris said (via Villa’s official website): “We would like to thank Christian for his outstanding leadership of the club over the last five seasons.

“He has overseen a transformation of the club both on and off the pitch and delivered the ambitious turnaround plan he presented to us when he arrived in 2018.

“We are grateful for all he has done.”

Purslow outlined the re-establishment of the men’s first team in the Premier League and the competitiveness of the women’s team as achievements during his tenure.

They have also secured permission to expand and modernise their stadium, Villa Park, and opened a new state-of-the-art training ground.

Villa are reportedly eyeing a move for Sevilla sporting director Monchi.

They need someone to work closely with manager Unai Emery to identify and target the right players as they prepare to play in Europe next season.

Monchi reportedly has a release clause but Villa’s £1.7 million offer is not enough to trigger it.

Barcelona’s Mateu Alemany rejected the chance to join Villa despite his appointment looking close weeks ago.