Ex-Premier League ‘Barclaysman’ who captained Aston VIlla agrees to take charge of MLS side

A former Aston Villa captain is set to become an MLS manager this week.

That’s because talkSPORT understands that Olof Mellberg has agreed a long-term deal with St Louis City.

The 47-year-old will become the new boss and will fly to the USA to sign his contract in the coming days.

Mellberg previously spent seven years in England with Villa between 2001 and 2008.

During that time, he scored eight goals from centre-back in 232 Premier League appearances.

The ex-Sweden international later played for Juventus, Olympiacos, Villarreal and Copenhagen before retiring in 2014 aged 36.

He has since moved into management, starting with Brommapojkarna, where he was also director of football.

Mellberg has also managed Danish side Fremad Amager and Helsingborgs.

However, he returned to Brommapojkarna in January 2023 before avoiding relegation via a play-off.

The Stockholm-based club then finished 10th under Mellberg in the top flight this year.

His work in his homeland has now caught the eye of St. Louis, who were only founded in 2019.

They later joined the MLS in 2023 but have only had one previous manager.

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Bradley Carnell was sacked in July before technical director John Hackworth took over as interim boss until the end of the season.

St. Louis went on to finish the campaign 12thin the Western Conference, missing out on the play-offs.

Mellberg will inherit a squad which is captained by former Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki.

He will have to wait three months for his first league match in charge, though, with the 2025 MLS season getting underway on February 22.