Aston Villa fans will love what Spanish football insiders thought of Real Sociedad under Roberto Olabe

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Aston Villa are set to bring in a new director of football, with Roberto Olabe expected to replace Monchi.

TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey recently confirmed that Roberto Olabe is heading to Villa, with Monchi having played a part in his successor’s appointment.

Olabe recently left Real Sociedad after a fruitful seven-year stint at the Basque club in which they won the Copa del Rey and often competed in Europe.

Indeed, Aston Villa fans will be happy over what Spanish insiders have apparently said about Sociedad under Olabe.

Why Spanish football insiders really admired Real Sociedad under Roberto Olabe

Olabe became Real Sociedad’s sporting director in 2018, and his efforts helped the club enjoy their most successful period since the 1980s.

Sociedad won the Copa del Rey in 2020, regularly qualified for Europe, and only finished outside La Liga’s top 10 once under Olabe.

Inside Spanish football, Real Sociedad were generally admired as a club that did things correctly and smartly during this time, according to The Athletic.

Sociedad did better than historically bigger rivals such as Valencia and Sevilla, where decisions were made more erratically, added the report.

‘Many observers’ apparently deemed Sociedad’s success a result of everyone at the club – including president, sporting director, coach and senior players – being ‘all very aligned’ in their roles.

In addition, Olabe played a big part in the expansion of the club’s Zubieta training ground.

Furthermore, a unified player development model was implemented across all of the club’s teams under Olabe, with an emphasis on playing good technical football at a rapid pace.

READ MORE: Who is Roberto Olabe? Meet the sporting director who found Alexander Isak and could join Aston Villa

The other Premier League club who recently wanted Roberto Olabe

In landing Olabe, Villa are set to appoint a director who was recently on the radar of a Premier League rival.

Late last year, Arsenal were on the lookout for a new sporting director in the wake of Edu Gaspar’s resignation.

Olabe was on Arsenal’s shortlist as an option to replace Edu, but in the end, the Gunners opted for Andrea Berta.