Aston Villa are reportedly set to appoint Arsenal's chief commercial officer Tom Fox as their new chief executive.
The Daily Express and Birmingham Mail have both reported that Villa owner Randy Lerner has identified Fox as the replacement for chief executive Paul Faulkner, who left last month.
Robin Russell has been acting chief executive since Faulkner's exit, but it is thought Lerner wants someone with footballing experience to take the permanent position.
Fox has held positions at Gatorade, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Wasserman Media Group (WMG).
He has been at Arsenal since 2009, and helped strike the club's kit deal with Puma, which is worth 170 million pounds.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa full-back Joe Bennett has joined Championship club Brighton on a season-long loan.
The 24-year-old defender watched Albion's 2-0 win at Leeds on Tuesday night before completing his medical and signing for the Seagulls on Wednesday.
He had fallen out of favour at Villa Park and Brighton were in need of reinforcements after missing out on Stephen Ward last week.
Ward had been poised to join Albion from Wolves after a fee was agreed following a successful loan spell last season, but Burnley hijacked the move.
"I'm delighted we have agreed with Joe and Aston Villa to bring him here on a season-long loan," Seagulls boss Sami Hyypia told Brighton's official website. "He is a dynamic left-back who's very comfortable on the ball. He's very mobile and will suit the way we want to play."
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.