According to Sportcal, Arsenal will promote Vinai Venkatesham to the role of Chief Commercial Officer as they prepare for life without Tom Fox.

It was revealed earlier in the week that Fox had been headhunted by Aston Villa with Randy Lerner offering his American compatriot the Chief Executive Officer position at Villa Park.

Oxford-educated Venkatesham has held a variety of job titles at Arsenal since 2012, most recently as Sales and Marketing director.

He played a lead role renegotiating the Emirates partnership and bringing on board the big-money deal with Puma. He’s also been a visible presence when the club have announced other secondary and regional partnerships and previously worked for the London 2012 commercial team and Deloitte.

A lot of progress has been made on the commercial front in the last 18 months with the club expanding its portfolio to 19 partners.Let’s hope under Vinai’s stewardship this growth continues.