Aston Villa have confirmed a small number of personnel changes to Unai Emery’s coaching staff.
Pako Ayestaran, assistant coach, and Antonio Rodríguez Saravia, individual performance coach, will both leave the club after working under Emery since his appointment in 2022.
Villa confirmed the changes on Thursday, adding that Jose Maria Sanz will join as assistant coach, subject to visa approval.
Sanz arrives with more than 20 years of coaching experience, having worked with clubs including Valencia, Sheffield United and Osasuna.
The departures mark the first clear change to Emery’s trusted Villa Park staff structure this summer. Ayestaran and Rodríguez Saravia were both part of the coaching group that helped turn Villa from a bottom-half side into a regular European club.
That context matters. Emery’s success at Villa has not only been about recruitment or matchday decisions. It has also been built on repeatable daily work at Bodymoor Heath.
Read Aston Villa has already covered how Villa’s summer has placed fresh demands on Emery’s wider structure, with transfer planning and squad depth still moving quickly before the new season.
This coaching update does not suggest a major reset. It looks more like a controlled adjustment around Emery before pre-season work intensifies.
Villa thanked both departing coaches for their contribution, and their popularity inside the club is clear from the tone of the announcement.
The key now is how quickly Sanz settles into the role. Villa’s standards have risen sharply under Emery, and the coaching staff around him remains central to keeping those levels in place.
