Richard Arnold will become the new Chief Executive of Manchester United on February 1st, with Ed Woodward to leave his role. 

50 year old Arnold has been with the club for 14 years, most recently in the role of Group Managing Director since 2013.

Arnold told the club's website that he is "honoured to have the chance to serve this great club and its fans. I am determined to return that honour in any way I can.”

After advising the Glazer family on their takeover in 2005, Woodward assumed the day to day running of the club as Executive Vice Chairman in 2013 and over €1 billion was spent on transfers under his watch, but United failed to win the Premier League in that time.

Woodward will continue to attend board meetings but will leave the club entirely in April of this year.

Executive Co-Chairman Joel Glazer added:

“I would like to thank Ed for his tireless work on behalf of Manchester United during his nine years as Executive Vice-Chairman and 16 years with the club.

“We are now looking forward to Richard and his leadership team opening a new phase in the club’s evolution, with ambitious plans for investment in Old Trafford, the strengthening of our engagement with fans, and continued drive towards our most important objective – winning on the pitch.”

The last person before Arnold to hold a Chief Executive role at Old Trafford was David Gill, who ran a good ship alongside manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Following the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick is the current interim boss until the end of the season and one of Arnold's first big decisions will be around the German's position in the summer.

United currently lie seventh in the Premier League table, four points off the top four, but 22 points behind leaders Manchester City.