Nassef Sawiris has transformed Aston Villa’s fortunes since completing a £30m takeover in 2018 and one of his closest aides has now offered an insight into the club’s owner

Aston Villa director Damian Vidagany believes Nassef Sawiris’ total dedication to the club has allowed him to rescue them from disaster.

The Egyptian billionaire completed a £30m takeover in 2018 and replaced Dr Tony Xia.

Villa have gone from strength-to-strength under Sawiris’ control, having returned to the Premier League, finished fourth twice and won the Europa League.

Director Vidagany has now offered his take on Sawiris and explained exactly how he has managed to have such a positive impact at Villa Park.

Speaking to Spanish outlet AS, he said: “The structure is quite simple. Olabe and I manage and report to the three owners. But one of them, Nassef Sawiris, who lives between New York and Milan, is the chairman, and we speak with him daily.

“The structure is very different from Valencia’s. I wasn’t with Peter Lim for very long, but I can say the owner is inaccessible to this day. He doesn’t interact, he doesn’t experience the club. He doesn’t feel it, and he doesn’t understand it. Our owner understands it, feels it, lives it, and loves it.”

He added: “Aston Villa is a club similar to Valencia. From an important region, the Midlands, hit hard by the industrial crisis and with economic problems for decades. And the club has been a symbol in the city. A founding member of the Premier League, a source of pride for its people.

“And due to mismanagement, including years with a Chinese owner, they were relegated to the second division and endured difficult times until the arrival of new owners, the current ones.”

“It has survived thanks to the love of its people, the unwavering support of its fans who have never abandoned it and have filled the stadium whether in the second division or the Champions League. That level of loyalty and love that the Birmingham community has for Aston Villa makes you empathise, and that’s why Unai is who he is there. He’s a hero, almost a deity.”

Alongside Sawiris, boss Unai Emery has also contributed to Villa’s rise over recent years.

And Vidagany believes that the Spanish coach is now among the best in the world, having learnt from the mistakes he made with Arsenal.

He said: “He [Emery] asked me to help him with everything that falls outside his managerial role.

“Having had the experience at Arsenal, where he felt somewhat isolated and disconnected from the club’s ownership, he asked me to structure the non-technical aspects of the football operations, establishing a protocol for the relationship with the club’s ownership.

“It’s going very well because we have an excellent relationship and a superb sporting director like Roberto Olabe. We feel we’ve reached the level of structure that Unai desired before going to England. It’s a source of pride because he can express himself as a coach, making the technical decisions he considers unique, as one of the best in the world, which he is.”