It's not quite the Juventus to Aston Villa move that fans would necessarily ask for, but significant news did develop in the beginning of the week for both clubs. After the departure of Chris Heck for a position at LIV, AVFC needed to fill their President of Business Operations Position.
Taking over for the departed golf venturer will be Francesco Calvo. Soon to be leaving the Italian club, he was the Managing Director Revenue & Institutional Relations at the Bianconeri. The executive resigned from his current role with the Serie A side and will join Villa upon the conclusion of the current season. Before then, Calvo served as the Chief Revenue Officer for Barcelona and AS Roma.
Calvo brings a lot of experience from other clubs and at one point appeared possibly on the move to Inter Milan. At the time, however, the Juventus executive categorically denied the rumor. What that moment does show is how highly sought-after he is for his talents.
While back-office aspects of the clubs aren't necessarily the biggest talking points among fans at a pub, they are important. And for someone to have gauged interest, even if it proved to be wrong, in joining a different team shows a lot about how he is perceived in his role.
A lot of expectations at Aston Villa
Particularly after how the tenure with Heck ended, the next person in line will have a lot to continue and amend among the Villa supporters.
The first order of business would likely be to discuss the currently planned Villa Park expansions and what to do in regard to ticketing and prices. In a more general sense, though, there have been criticisms of the club being disconnected and underappreciating the fans from the higher-up positions.
Someone like Calvo knows how to navigate these terrains and is undoubtedly qualified for his new role. Balancing the sheets and dealing with PSR will be a large part of what he does, but the fan connection aspect could be the most important part of his challenge in Birmingham.