+ A
A -
afp
London
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis is to leave the club to take up a similar post at Italian giants AC Milan, the Premier League club announced on Tuesday.
Speculation that Gazidis -- who oversaw Unai Emery's appointment to replace Arsene Wenger in May -- will depart for Italy has been rife for some time. Now the move has been confirmed, with Raul Sanllehi, currently head of football relations at the Emirates Stadium, to become head of football when Gazidis heads to Milan.
Arsenal's chief commercial officer Vinai Venkatesham will take over the role of managing director at the same point.
Gazidis, 54, has reportedly been offered A£3.6 million ($4.7 million) a year a A£1 million increase in his present salary and an equity stake in the AC Milan by the American owners Elliott Management, who took over in July.
Gazidis, who will leave Arsenal by the end of October, has worked for the Gunners since 2009 and has been behind a radical change in management structure at the Emirates.
He played a major part in introducing roles such as Sanllehi's, as well as that of head of recruitment a post held by Sven Mislintat.
Those appointments wrestled some power away from Wenger, whose 22-year tenure came to a close at the end of last season.
