The former Hearts and Scottish Rugby Union chief is highly regarded in Abu Dhabi by City's owners and is in the frame to take up role that paid Cook £2 million a year
Abu Dhabi-based Phil Anderton has emerged as the early frontrunner to succeed Garry Cook as the Manchester City chief executive, Goal.com can reveal.
Anderton is currently the CEO at United Arab Emirates Pro-League club Al Jazira, who share the same Abu Dhabi owners as City and whose chairman is also Sheikh Mansour, the Manchester City owner.
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Goal.com understands that the experienced sports executive, whose background is in marketing, is highly regarded in the Middle East and is in the frame to replace Cook, who resigned his £1.96 million-per-year role last week.
Cook conceded he made an "error of judgement" in mistakenly sending an offensive email to the mother of Nedum Onuoha, the City defender, which prompted an internal investigation led by the club’s chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
John Macbeath, who took up a director’s position at Etihad Stadium in February 2010, has been installed as City’s temporary CEO but the club are believed to be casting the net wider to fill the position permanently.
The Manchester club have distanced themselves from the possibility of appointing former Chelsea and Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon.
City are keen to appoint a knowledgeable football figure who has commercial expertise and proven skill in spearheading infrastructure projects. The club’s principal strategic objective is developing the 80-acre site opposite Etihad Stadium into a single destination for the training ground, academy and main ground.
Anderton cut his teeth in the United States as the global brand ambassador for Coca-Cola and has held various executive positions in sport, piloting the commercial campaigns of the Scottish Rugby Union and the ATP World Tour in tennis. He also spent a seven-month spell as CEO at Hearts in 2005 before being sacked by owner Vladimir Romanov.
Ironically, Cook sat on the panel that interviewed him for the Al Jazira job, which he took up in January 2010 charged with the task of raising the profile of the capital club.
He has impressed his paymasters by attracting a record crowd of 28,164 for a domestic UAE game, and overseeing the club's league and cup double last season
Anzhi Makhachkala striker Samuel Eto'o insists he came close to signing for an English club - believed to be Manchester City - before he joined Inter Milan in 2009. Metro
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