Arsenal chief executive Gazidis leaves for AC Milan

LONDON: Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis will leave the Premier League team to join Italy’s AC Milan in the latest move in a year of change at the English club.

Gazidis will start work as AC Milan chief executive on Dec 1 after almost a decade at Arsenal which is restructuring off the field following the departure of team manger Arsene Wenger who had been at the club since 1996.

Vinai Venkatesham, currently Arsenal’s chief commercial officer, will become managing director while current head of football relations Raul Sanllehi will have the title of head of football.

The departure of Gazidis comes a month after American billionaire Stan Kroenke took full control of Arsenal by buying out Russian rival Alisher Usmanov, valuing the Premier League club at around US$2.3 billion (RM9.6 billion).

“Arsenal is entering a new chapter and I have done everything I can to ensure that it is strongly placed to take on that challenge,” Gazidis said in a statement, adding that many would say it was a “strange time” for him to leave.

“Although it is very hard to do — the hardest decision of my life — I believe that, after 10 years, it is the right time for me to step aside to allow new leadership, energy and ideas to take the club forward into this exciting new era.”

Arsenal and AC Milan will both compete in this year’s Europa League, with both teams failing to qualify for the more lucrative Champions League in recent seasons. Gazidis said he would be “working to restore (Milan) to its rightful place in football.”

AC Milan, seven times European champions, have also seen upheaval this year.

Elliott Investments took control of the club in July after Li Yonghong, who last year had bought AC Milan from former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, failed to make a repayment that was due to the US fund.

Gazidis has reportedly been offered £3.6 million (RM20 million) a year — a £1 million increase in his present salary — and an equity stake in the AC Milan.

He will leave the London club with effect from Oct 31 with AC Milan confirmed that Gazidis will begin working with the club from Dec 1, describing him as a “worldclass football executive”.