Everything we know as Aston Villa in talks to appoint Austin MacPhee successor

Aston Villa are honing in on a new set-piece coach.

Earlier this month it was confirmed that previous set-piece coach Austin MacPhee was leaving Aston Villa to join Chelsea.

The Scotsman moved to Stamford Bridge for an undisclosed fee after his release clause was triggered.

Villa scored 16 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League last season, and netted more from them than any side in Europe's top five leagues in 2023-24.

As such, MacPhee's impact on Unai Emery's side getting results wasn't lost on anyone at Villa Park.

However, it now appears as though the Villains have found who they wish to replace the 46-year-old with.

Who is the set-piece coach Aston Villa are in talks with?

Set-piece coaches are one of football's big new in-things, as the revival of the deadball situation's trendiness continues to grow.

As aforementioned, there weren't many better than Villa in this department under MacPhee's guidance.

So, any coach who comes in as his replacement has big shoes to fill at Villa Park.

Writing to his X account on Saturday, Birmingham Live reporter John Townley has relayed who MacPhee's successor is set to be.

Townley reports that Burnley manager Nicky Hayen has confirmed that Villa are in discussion with the Clarets' set-piece coach Pal Fjelde.

Burnley are said to be expecting Fjelde to leave, and so it would appear he's ready to jump at the opportunity presented to him in the West Midlands.

So, who is Fjelde and how impactful has he been at Burnley when it comes to set-pieces?

Fjelde has World Cup experience under his belt

Born in Jorpeland, Norway, Fjelde was only appointed as Burnley's set-piece coach last summer.

The 32-year-old has spent time coaching with numerous clubs in Norway, and he also enjoyed a relatively brief playing career too.

Fjelde has worked as a set-piece coach for Norway at international level too, and was part of their coaching staff at this summer's World Cup.

Norway did, however, score just the one goal from a set-piece at the tournament (per FotMob), before being knocked out by England in the quarter-finals.

As for his lone season with Burnley last term, seven of the Clarets' 38 Premier League goals were from set-piece situations.

That's not an awful lot, but it has to be remembered that this was in a relegated side, and likely isn't a fair reflection of Fjelde's coaching ability.

So, he's a young coach who's clearly highly thought of within various footballing circles, and could be an exciting addition to Villa's coaching staff.