New chief pledges not to turn Arsenal into Mickey Mouse club

The 44-year-old will take leave his post as Deputy Commissioner for Major League Soccer to join the club in January.

Born in South Africa, Gazidis was raised in the UK from the age of four and trained as a lawyer at Oxford but made his name in the United States by helping to found and develop the MLS after the 1994 World Cup.

Despite a proven track record in American sport, Gazidis moved to assure supporters that the club's history would not be sacrificed in the name of continuing expansion. He said: "It is essential if Arsenal is going to be successful that its traditions are respected and that they be understood.

"This is not going to be an American coming in with no understanding of Arsenal, looking to make it into a Disney-fied version of Arsenal Football Club.

"This is an Englishman who grew up with the game, who has a deep understanding of Arsenal and is looking to provide sports business practices, but at the same time custodianship for the traditions of the club for the benefit of all of the stakeholders in it."

Gazidis's predecessor, David Dein, was a supporter of a takeover from Stan Kroenke, the American billionaire who currently holds a 12 per-cent stake in the club. But his replacement suggested a desire to continue to avoid Arsenal becoming the tenth Premier League club to be bought by a single foreign investor.

"The great thing about Arsenal is that it has been run to sustain itself," said Gazidis. "It's not dependant on an outside investor to continue to pump money in year after year. That situation is inherently a little bit unstable because it depends on one individual." Although Kroenke and Gazidis know each other from their work in America, chairman Peter Hill-Wood insists the latter is not "Kroenke's man".

He said: "I told Stan what we were thinking of doing some weeks ago and said I hadn't involved him because I didn't want to embarrass him in any way. He had nothing to do with the appointment."

Hill-Wood also confirmed the new man had manager Arsene Wenger's blessing, and that the two would be working together when it came to signings and contract negotiation. He said: "We all had lunch a couple of weeks ago so that Ivan and Arsene Wenger could meet. It was important Arsene liked him, so to that extent Arsene was involved in the appointment."

The nature of the MLS dictates that all players are contracted to the league, meaning Gazidis as deputy commissioner saw all deals go through his office and it is this experience, together with Wenger's judgement, that many fans hope will lead to January signings.

Hill-Wood added: "I think he gets on very well with Arsene and will handle the financial, technical side of player signings."