Aston Villa talent spotter on the move

MacKenzie, who has been Villa’s head of recruitment for the past three years, is following the club’s former sporting director Johan Lange to north London, where he will take on the role of chief scout.

Lange, who made MacKenzie one of his first appointments after his own arrival at Villa Park in 2020, was appointed Tottenham’s new technical director earlier this month.

The pair were responsible for overhauling Villa’s scouting network and their time heading the recruitment department coincided with the signing of star players including Ollie Watkins, Emi Martinez and Matty Cash.

Their departures in quick succession is another indication of the power shift which has taken place at Villa since Unai Emery’s appointment as head coach a year ago.

Lange had been reassigned to become the club’s global director of football development following the arrival of Monchi as president of football operations, an appointment driven by Emery.

MacKenzie, meanwhile, had worked alongside Spain-based scout Alberto Benito since the latter’s recruitment in May.

Villa also appointed former Philadelphia 76ers president Chris Heck as president of business operations earlier this year, tasked with overseeing their commercial department.

Chief executive Christian Purslow stepped down from his role in June after a five-year stay.