Sevilla Coach Unai Emery has praised sporting director Monchi for his ability to pick the right players for the Rojiblancos squad.
Monchi has been in his post for 15 years and Emery, in an interview with Marca, discussed his colleague, as well as a number of current Sevilla players and potential arrivals.
“He has a good eye. He does his job well. All the scouts work to find good players, then he gets involved. The player can say no but Monchi gets them to the table,” Emery said.
“Yevhen Konoplyanka? That’s always been a difficult one. We’re still fighting for him but the effort is very big, financially.
“He’s a very good player. He also needs to consider the language. There’s an element of risk. We’re willing to assume that risk though.
“We work within what is possible. We can sign one or two players for €6m. If it goes over €10m, we forget it. We’re not at the level of Valencia or Atletico Madrid.
“We can use the Champions League to convince players. Players who come here develop. It’s good for the player and the club.
“The year Gerard Deulofeu spent here has been good for him. I appreciated what I saw and I’m sorry we didn’t get more from him.
“He’s seen what it’s like to be part of a team. He needs to be humble to continue growing. He has incredible potential, but needs to polish the edges.
“It’s like having a car – you have to add the right accessories, the wheels, the steering, the brakes…
“Ever Banega was brought up by Monchi. He had to be in the right shape and we had to see what his motivation was. Monchi did some work on him and I held back.
“It was a long process. You can’t convince anyone in a month. He’d say be calm and do your work. When we got him to the right level he was very good! We have to continue with him.
“Adil Rami is someone I know very well. He’s the type of centre-back we want, forceful, like Federico Fazio. We couldn’t sign him six months ago, but now we’re in the Champions League and Milan aren’t.”
