St. Louis City have appointed City Football Group executive Diego Gigliani as club president and general manager, sources briefed on the hiring process tell The Athletic. Sources were granted anonymity as they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the hiring.
Lutz Pfannenstiel’s role as sporting director will remain the same, sources say, as he oversees the sporting structure and will continue to control those decisions. Co-owner Carolyn Kindle will now serve only as CEO, to focus on big-picture goings on at the club, after previously operating as CEO and president.
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Gigliani will report directly to Kindle and is set to start this summer, pending receipt of his visa. He’ll oversee the day-to-day aspects of the club across all domains.
The Argentine-born Gigliani has spent the last 10 years as part of City Football Group. He exits as managing director for global partner clubs — Girona FC (Spain), Troyes (France), Lommel SK (Belgium), Montevideo City Torque (Uruguay), Bolivar (Bolivia) and Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan). He sits on the board of directors for most of those clubs.
NYCFC is also under the City Football Group umbrella.
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Gigliani was raised between the United States and Spain and previously served as head of Manchester City and CFG’s media and innovation activities worldwide.
St. Louis City had the best start to an expansion season in MLS history, winning each of their first five matches. They sit atop the Western Conference with 19 points after nine matches.
Pfannenstiel and the front office put together an inaugural roster featuring imports from Europe, like Klauss, Eduard Löwen and Roman Bürki, as well as key additions from within MLS, like Tim Parker, Jared Stroud, Jake Nerwinski and more.
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(Photo: Courtesy of St. Louis City)
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