Aston Villa have appointed the Dutch coach Robert de Pauw as their manager on a three-year contract, with the option of a further year. The 42-year-old has made the switch from Bayer Leverkusen, where he was in charge for two seasons, and his arrival ends the Women’s Super League side’s lengthy search to find a replacement for Carla Ward. She announced on 3 May that she was leaving to spend more time with her loved ones, after three years at the helm. It is understood the club’s head of women’s football, Lee Billiard, drew up a shortlist of candidates for Villa’s president of football operations, Monchi, and the director of football operations, Damian Vidagany, and the club really valued the experience De Pauw can offer. De Pauw has also taken charge of FC Twente in his native Netherlands, guiding them to a league and cup double in 2022. “You have to give credit to the organisation, the former manager and her staff, and everything looks good,” De Pauw told Villa’s website. “They’ve grown as a team over the past few seasons and shown that they are a stable factor in the league. “I like to have the ball and I like to be dominant. I’ve shown in the teams that I’ve coached that football can be very beautiful with players that grow and develop into internationals. This is what I aim for here. The best thing will be if we win something. “We’ll be doing fine if we end up in the top six, but we have to be ambitious, we have to dream. In the future if we can build towards European football that would be a dream for everyone in the organisation.” It is understood De Pauw was introduced to Villa’s players on Saturday. The club finished seventh in the WSL last term. Billiard said: “After an extremely methodical and extensive managerial search, we are delighted to welcome Robert. The process took some time and included a thorough search of the best leagues in women’s football. “This detailed procedure led us to Robert, who we know has a clear philosophy and has an insatiable hunger to implement a winning culture at the football club.”