After an awful opening four games of the Premier League season, which have produced just three points and one goal for Aston Villa, the club’s president of football operations, Monchi, has stepped down from his position.

The 57-year-old Spaniard, who previously worked alongside head coach Unai Emery at Sevilla, was appointed at Villa Park in the summer of 2023 after seeing the Rojiblancos lift the Europa League for the seventh time across his two spells overseeing the club’s footballing business.

His arrival in the West Midlands did not bring quite the same success to the Villans, but it did see several of his signings play influential roles in their runs to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League and quarter-finals of the Champions League.

With Monchi’s time at the club having come to an end, let’s take a look at the five best signings in his two years.

The Belgian midfielder signed for Aston Villa in the summer of 2024 for a reported fee of £50 million from fellow top-flight side Everton.

The 24-year-old had established himself as one of the Toffees’ leading players in his two years at Goodison Park and showed he was comfortable at the Premier League level.

His signing came as a replacement for defensive midfielder Douglas Luiz, who made a €50 million move to Italian giants Juventus one month earlier, leaving a big gap in Emery’s midfield.

Onana’s arrival was one that filled the hole left by the Brazilian, and he needed no time to adjust to the level of competition, allowing Villa to continue their rise following their Europa Conference League run the previous season.

In his first season, the former Lille man made 35 appearances and scored five goals, and gave Emery further depth of options alongside Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Youri Tielemans.

Overall, although the Belgian is not the firepower that drove Villa on to the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, his role in the side ensured that they had quality players to rotate in the middle of the park to manage both domestic and continental competitions.

Now, this may seem too soon to list Elliott as one of Monchi’s best signings due to the Villans’ start to the campaign, but the signing of the Liverpool could prove to be one of their best pieces of business in recent years.

The 22-year-old joined on loan on 1 September with an obligation to buy for a reported £35 million after struggling for playing time at Anfield and has already made an impact, scoring on his first start for the club in their Carabao Cup defeat to Brentford.

As a two-time UEFA European U-21 Championship winner with England, the former Fulham youngster has exceptional potential and Champions League experience, including scoring three goals in just five games in the competition last year.

He was also part of Liverpool’s Premier League-winning squad last season, playing 18 times, and is seen with enough value by Arne Slot that the Reds inserted a buy-back clause into his move to Villa Park.

Whilst his time at the club has been short so far, his signing, which was one of Monchi’s last pieces of business, could turn out to be extremely important in their Premier League and Europa League performances this season and in later years.

Asensio only spent a short period of time in the West Midlands after joining on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in February, but made a significant impact.

The Spanish winger scored eight goals in 21 games, with two of them sealing all three points in a 2-1 win over Chelsea and another three coming in a 6-1 aggregate victory over Club Brugge in the last 16 of the UCL.

Perhaps even more important than the goals, it was a statement signing that displayed Villa’s presence among the top sides in the Premier League with their ability to recruit a three-time La Liga and Champions League winner.

His arrival coincided with another loan signing, in the form of Marcus Rashford, but it was Asensio who outshone the other and showed why he was highly rated in Madrid.

Although the deal was not made permanent in the summer and the 29-year-old has since gone on to join Fenerbache, his move to Villa Park was the biggest symbol of the club’s place back among the big boys of English football.

One of the Villans’ most influential players in recent seasons, Tielemans was a quality performer at Leicester City before the Foxes’ relegation to the Championship in 2023 and has since extended, if not enhanced, his reputation as a solid Premier League performer.

The Belgian midfielder, who broke through at Anderlecht as a 16-year-old, made the move across the Midlands on a free transfer and could certainly argue his case to be number one on this list.

His class and experience in the middle of the park, as well as in a further attacking position sometimes, have proven to be vital in how Emery’s team has performed on the European stage, with the 28-year-old also contributing two goals in the Champions League last season.

Although his wages are reportedly upwards of £100,000, the way he almost seamlessly established himself as one of the side’s key players is understated.

He still has two years left at Villa Park, and if they are to turn around their awful form at the start of this season, his leadership and technical quality will be vitally important in doing so.

Narrowly beating Tielemans to the top spot is England international Rogers.

The former West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City youngster made the move to the West Midlands in February 2024 after shining at second-tier Middlesbrough, for whom he scored five goals in six EFL Cup games in their run to the competition’s semi-finals in 2023/24.

He was signed by Monchi and Emery for just £8 million, rising up to £15 million, which now looks to be a steal based on how much his stock has risen in the past 12 months.

His 30 goal contributions last year came alongside a maiden international call-up in November 2024, and he recently played a shining role in Thomas Tuchel’s side’s 5-0 rout over Serbia.

His latest transfer value was judged to be €55 million by Transfermarkt, showing how good a deal it was to get him for just £8 million, and his partnership alongside Ollie Watkins in attack was one of the main factors in his side’s performances last season.

Whilst it feels unlikely that he will stay at Villa Park much longer, given his excellent 2024/25 season, Rogers will go down as Monchi’s greatest piece of business in his time at Villa and one which could make the club a sizable profit in the near future.