[1] Monchi spent the vast majority of his career as a backup to Juan Carlos Unzué, only featuring more regularly from 1995 onwards.
[5] He was given two objectives by the board: develop the club's youth system and implement a vast scouting policy inside and outside Spain.
Within this setup, he sourced a number of profitable bargains (including Adriano, Dani Alves, Júlio Baptista, Federico Fazio, Seydou Keita and Ivan Rakitić),[7] making a profit of around €200 million in the transfer market, as the club established itself in the top half of the top division in his 16 years there.
[8] Monchi asked to leave Sevilla in the 2016 off-season,[9][10] but the board did not accept his request unless he paid his €5 million buyout clause.
[15] He occupied the position until June 2023,[16] when he was announced as president of football operations at Premier League club Aston Villa.