SAN JOSE — The Earthquakes continued to pivot toward European soccer with the hiring of a former English Premier League executive to replace Dave Kaval, who now will focus all of his energy on the Athletics.

The Quakes will formally introduce former Arsenal and Aston Villa executive Tom Fox as president Tuesday, officials told this news organization.

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San Jose Earthquakes have no answer in another bad defeat to LAFC “Everybody believes there is still growth for San Jose,” Fox said Wednesday in an interview from London. “The charge is to find ways to continue to put San Jose in a competitive place. To do that by finding good players locally and finding good players in the U.S. and abroad and to grow our commercials.”

The latest front-office change signals owners John Fisher and Lew Wolff are committed to

the long-term health of the team as Major League Soccer becomes increasingly more aggressive in signing top foreign players.

The change comes a half a year after Kaval was promoted to run the A’s with a charge to build a new ballpark in Oakland. Kaval continued to serve as Quakes president, a title he had held since 2010.

“For us, it was all about finding the right person,” he said Wednesday. “For the long-term, it was the best” to have duo roles. “But it pulled me very thin in two locations.”

The administrative change should not have much impact on the Athletics as Kaval already has been working overtime on what he describes as a massive project to build a new ballpark.

But Fox’s hiring could change the Earthquakes’ landscape as they head into the summer stretch of the season with hopes of ending a four-year playoff drought.

“Now we need to push forward and develop a stronger product on the pitch,” Kaval said.

“We’re not taking for granted the momentum we’ve created by building a new stadium.”

San Jose started its global reach in the offseason with the hiring of general manager Jesse Fioranelli, a Swiss-American who served as an executive AS Roma. Fioranelli then hired Brazilian Bruno Costa and Spaniard Alex Covelo to boost the team’s scouting and youth development.

Fioranelli has said he hopes to use the summer transfer window that opens in July to make a big signing, perhaps bringing in a designated player to add to an already improved attacking game.

The Earthquakes (5-5-4, 19 points) are in the playoff mix as they travel Friday to face Western Conference opponent Portland.

Now comes Fox, 53, who resigned in 2016 as Villa’s chief executive because of the team’s poor performance.

Kaval, who will remain a Quakes board member, interviewed about a half-dozen candidates for the job. The team used search firm Nolan Partners, the group that unearthed Fioranelli. Fox had a relationship with Nolan owner Paul Nolan.

He was consulting in England since October but had planned to return to the United States when the San Jose job opened.

“The ownership group and the board realized we sit in a unique part of the world,” Fox said of the Bay Area. “There is a tremendous amount of activity happening in that part of the world both in participation and grassroots in being able to source possible talent. Certainly also in terms of what is happening corporately in our back yard.”

Fox started at Quaker Oaks three decades ago after graduating from Miami of Ohio. By 1988, he joined Gatorade’s sports marketing arm. Then he worked at the NBA, eventually opening the league’s China office. After also working at Nike, Fox rejoined Gatorade in 1999 as senior vice president, sports marketing.

In 2009, he became Arsenal’s chief commercial officer under CEO Ivan Gazidis, a former MLS deputy commissioner. After a successful stint in North London, Fox took over Aston Villa in 2014.

The Birmingham team struggled during his tenure, dropping to the second division Championship League months after Fox resigned last spring. Aston Villa finished the recent Championship league season 13th out of 24 teams.

“Anyone who has ever had to go in essentially as a turnaround comes away with lessons learned,” Fox said. “My father has a wonderful expression: Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.”

Fox said his group didn’t have enough time to implement the changes needed to get Villa to the top of the EPL.

“I was comfortable and confident everything we were doing was the right thing to do at a very difficult and challenging time,” he said. “It’s like sitting down and doing a crossword puzzle while someone is screaming at you. What you really learn is to have confidence in yourself and the people around you.”