Aston Villa have moved to appoint a new scout ahead of the January transfer window, according to Birmingham Live.

Former Valencia player and Spanish international Juanfran has confirmed he has been interviewed by Villa and given the opportunity to work with them ahead of the expected frantic window.

Dean Smith has plenty to keep him occupied this January, with a rebuilding job likely to take place at the back and the future of several players up in the air. He'll now have the expertise of the former Celta Vigo player to lean on when identifying targets.

Juanfran, not to be confused with the former Atletico Madrid man, only retired from the game in 2016 having last represented Levante, the club with which he started his career. He's also played in Turkey with Besiktas, Greece with AEK Athens and had a loan spell with Dutch giants Ajax.

He earned 11 caps for his country between 2000 and 2003, including a place in the World Cup squad for the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan, appearing in three of their five matches.

The Verdict

This is an interesting move. Developments off the pitch can be as important as anything on it, but this news should be of serious interest.

His area of expertise is surely going to be Spain, the bulk of his 504 outings have been in his homeland and the last six years of his career was spent there.

It'll be intriguing to see what he brings to the table long term.