Hutton intrigued by new Aston Villa arrival from Denmark
Alan Hutton has admitted he is excited by the direction Aston Villa are heading in after reportedly making a new senior appointment.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Holte End favourite believes the Villans have demonstrated their willingness to adopt new ideas and move with the times in recent months.
As reported by specialist news outlet Training Ground Guru, Frederick Leth has followed Villa's sporting director Johan Lange from FC Copenhagen to become the new head of football research at Villa Park.
It is said head of football research is a brand new role at Villa and a rarity across the Premier League, with only four other top-flight clubs - Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United - having similar appointments in place.
Hutton admitted he was intrigued by the new senior arrival and suggested it demonstrated Villa's ambition for the future.
Hutton told Football Insider assistant editor Russell Edge: "It's a new job to me, to be honest, but it seems like the new thing going forward.
"As you can see, some of the top teams are doing it, Johan's got a good pedigree behind him and will know exactly the direction he wants to take the club so he sees that as the new way of going forward.
"Everything for Villa at the minute is going well - on the pitch, off the pitch, the development of the young kids so everyone's happy.
"You can see why they're more open to try new things, develop new areas, so I think it's all good for Villa moving forward at the moment."
Villa appointed Lange as their sporting director last summer to replace the departing Jesus Garcia Pitarch.
Dean Smith and his men currently sit ninth in the Premier League table after narrowly escaping relegation last season.