Chris Kirchner appears to be closing in on a deal to purchase Preston North End – and Garry Cook is set to be involved in the takeover.
Lancs Live report that Kirchner is on the verge of securing his takeover of North End after weeks of rumours.
The American businessman has been watching recent Preston games and is seemingly nearing a deal.
The report notes that Kirchner won’t be incurring any debt against the club in his purchase and has shown the funds to get the deal done.
After missing out on a deal to buy Derby County, it sounds like Kirchner is finally set to make inroads into English football.
The man behind American logistics company slync.io has been attracted to Preston’s history and potential.
For his first role in football, it’s vital that Kirchner has people who understand English football around him – and two men appear to be joining him.
Lancs Live note that Garry Cook and Paul Stretford are part of Kirchner’s team and are expected to be involved in the takeover.
Who is Garry Cook?
Cook has had quite the career.
Cook rose to prominence in the 1990’s with Nike, eventually becoming the head of their ‘Brand Jordan’ project.
That means Cook worked very closely with NBA mega-star Michael Jordan in building up one of the biggest sporting brands in history.
Manchester City then landed Cook in 2008, making him their new chief executive under new owner Thaksin Shinawatra.
Cook ended up heading up recruitment at City, securing signings like Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta.
Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor, Nigel de Jong and Carlos Tevez were other signings made on Cook’s watch, but he couldn’t land Kaka from AC Milan.
Cook was also key to replacing Mark Hughes with Roberto Mancini at the Etihad Stadium before leaving in 2011.
Cook became Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Europe, Middle East and Asia for the UFC, working with the mixed martial arts giant for four years.
After a recent role with Marseille, Cook is now expected to join up with Preston in what appears to be a huge coup based on his glittering career.
Who is Paul Stretford?
There’s a clear connection between Cook and Stretford. Speaking to The Athletic in 2019, Cook admitted that he ‘loves Stretford dearly’ and thinks he is a ‘great guy’.
Stretford has worked around football for decades now having formed agency Proactive Sports Management back in 1987.
Stretford is best known for being Wayne Rooney’s agent, but he also represented the likes of Andrew Cole and Stan Collymore.
Intriguingly, Stretford was known to have strong ties to super-agent Jorge Mendes having played a part in deals involving Hugo Viana and Cristiano Ronaldo to the Premier League.
Sir Alex Ferguson wasn’t Stretford’s biggest fan, suggesting that he ‘wasn’t the most popular man in the world – certainly at our club’.
Stretford and Cook have vast experience in the Premier League and will hope to form something of a dream team alongside Kirchner.