Aston Villa recruit new chief exec
ASTON Villa have recruited an experienced Premier League director as the club’s new chief executive.
Christian Purslow has previously worked for five-times champions Chelsea and Liverpool and is the first major appointment at Villa since the takeover of the club by Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens in the summer.
In addition to becoming the new chief executive with immediate effect, the 54-year-old is also now a minority shareholder in the club.
Club co-chairman Tony Xia added: “I am delighted to welcome Christian who will work closely with Nassef, Wes and myself to move the club in a better direction.
“I look forward to seeing him shine at our football club.”
Aston Villa had been without a chief executive since the departure of Keith Wyness in June following a bust-up with Mr Xia who was the club’s then majority owner before he struck a £30 million buyout deal with Mr Sawiris and Mr Edens. It came as the club was hovering on the brink of administration.
Mr Purslow’s background is in private equity and, as co-founder of New York-based MidOcean Partners, he was involved in a string of high-profile multi-million pound deals in the past.
During his spell as Liverpool’s managing director from 2009 to 2010, he negotiated the sale to the club’s current owners Fenway Sports Group. At Chelsea he spent three years as managing director until 2017 during which time he secured major deals with names such as Nike, Yokohama, Hublot and Carabao.