Aston Villa have appointed Hendrik Almstadt as sporting director.
The 40-year-old German moves to Villa Park from Arsenal, where he spent the last four years, tasked with improving Villa's scouting network.
Almstadt is the first person to hold a sporting director role at Aston Villa and the club's chief executive Tom Fox, who worked at Arsenal between 2009 and 2014, said: "I'm really pleased to welcome Hendrik to Aston Villa.
"I was able to see first hand the excellent work he did at Arsenal and he will add tremendous value across our entire football set-up."
Almstadt starts in his post on Monday and said: "I can't wait to start my new role at Aston Villa. It is a club with huge potential, a rich history and deep roots in Birmingham, the Midlands, and within English and European football.
"I look forward to working again with Tom Fox and to establish a close relationship with the manager, Tim Sherwood."
Sherwood believes Almstadt will provide make life easier for him in the Villa Park dugout.
He said: "I'm really excited Hendrik is joining. We have a lot of work to do at the football club and Hendrik will make the job I have here easier."
