Blues set to appoint former Man City boss as new CEO

Birmingham City’s new owners are expected to appoint Garry Cook as their new chief executive officer.

Cook will begin work at St Andrews following Tom Wagner’s takeover of the Championship club.

Cook made his name in professional football as Manchester City’s chief executive who started the process of thinking big. 

He has reportedly left his most recent job as the executive president and CEO of the Saudi Pro League after just five months.

The Birmingham-born executive joined Manchester City from Nike prior to the Abu Dhabi takeover, and though he is credited with appointing Mark Hughes and Roberto Mancini as managers and signing the likes of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, he is also known for a series of PR gaffes.

He was eventually sacked after he was found to have mocked the mother of player Nedum Onuoha, who was acting as her son’s agent, and was battling cancer.

He was linked with recent takeovers of Newcastle and Derby County and briefly was a director of Wigan Athletic, where he brought Stanley Choi to the their club, which turned out to be a disaster.

His involvement with the Latics resulted in serious financial problems and they were relegated to League One following a points deduction.

Prior to working for City, Cook enjoyed a successful career with Nike, where he worked closely with Michael Jordan.