Sevilla agrees to Monchi's departure amid reported deal with Roma

Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo, the sporting director better known as Monchi, will no longer be writing on paper at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.

Sevilla came to an agreement with Monchi on Thursday, allowing the transfer wizard to depart the Andalusian club after Marca reported the architect is set to sign a three-year deal with AS Roma. Details of the agreement will be revealed at a press conference on Friday.

Monchi is the man responsible for Sevilla's unprecedented era of glory. He was appointed as its sporting director in 2000, when the club faced a financial crisis and had just been relegated from La Liga. No fewer than five Europa League crowns and two Copa del Rey titles have been brought to the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan under his wizardry.

It was Monchi who commanded Sevilla's signing of Dani Alves, Federico Fazio, Martin Caceres, Adriano, Ivan Rakitic, Julio Baptista, Seydou Keita, Christian Poulsen, Luis Fabiano, and Carlos Bacca.

By Sid Lowe's math, all of the above were signed for little over €25 million. All of them were sold, along with Sergio Ramos, Jesus Navas, Alberto Moreno, Luis Alberto, and Jose Antonio Reyes, youth products who brought in almost €100 million.

In 2016, Monchi gave Lowe a glimpse of his methodology. "Sixteen people cover a series of leagues," the transfer guru said. "For the first five months we watch a lot of football but with no particular aim: we're just accumulating data. Every month we produce an ideal XI for each league. Then in December we start watching players who appeared regularly in different contexts - home, away, international - to build the broadest possible profile." He then pulled out a phone and showed a colour-coded spreadsheet. "The manager says: 'I want a left-back who averaged 11 kilometres a game, runs 800 metres at full speed, uses both feet.' And from these, 10 will fit."

Negotiations between Monchi and Roma have reportedly been ongoing for some time.