Swansea City: New COO looking to provide funds to improve squad

Chris Pearlman is a father of two

Chris Pearlman says he is aiming to grow Swansea City's profile off the field, in order to provide revenue to improve the playing squad.

Swansea's newly-appointed chief operating officer will also prioritise building bridges with Swansea's Supporters' Trust.

"One of the advantages of me being on the ground here is having day-to-day contact with the ownership for the Trust to connect with," he said.

"We are all together on this."

Americans Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan bought a controlling 68% stake in the Premier League club in July.

The Supporters' Trust, who own a 21% stake, have been critical of the owners over a lack of communication.

Most recently, they threatened legal action over a share sale and lack of consultation on the appointment of Bob Bradley, the first American to manage in the Premier League.

Spanish striker Borja is Swansea's record signing

Investment on the field

New York native Pearlman, who was formerly executive vice president at Van Wagner Sports, says he is hopeful the work he does can directly impact Swansea's ability to manoeuvre in the transfer market.

"The Swansea story is a great story and the more people hear it, the more they will relate to it and have a rooting interest in the club," he told BBC Wales Sport.

"The growth of the Premier League has been tremendous. It is seen in more than 150/200 countries around the world.

"The commercial opportunities for the club, to take advantage of that and make all these new fans into Swansea fans, is big.

"My goal is to help do that, to grow the club from a business perspective and that is important.

"Because that will allow us to be more successful on the pitch.

"We want to reinvest those revenues into acquiring better players. It is a good cycle to get into."

Jason Levien (left) and Steve Kaplan completed their takeover of Swansea City during the summer

Earning the trust of the Trust

Pearlman says he will improve communication with the Trust and believes part of the problem has simply been geographical.

"Jason [Levien] is five time zones away, Steve [Kaplan] is eight times zones away and I think just the distance has made communication a little more challenging than it should be, or needs to be.

"One of the things I am going to spend a lot of time on is ensuring there is not a lack of communication. I will keep the Trust as informed as I can.

"I am 100% aware that they are an integral part of the Swansea story and hopefully they will continue to be an important part the story."

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