CHERRIES chairman Bill Foley believes hiring Tiago Pinto “reinforces the ambition that we have to succeed”.

Pinto, 39, has been brought in as the club’s first ever president of football operations, to work alongside chief executive Neill Blake and technical director Simon Francis.

This comes as Richard Hughes departs Cherries this summer to join Liverpool, with scouting duo Craig McKee and Mark Burchill heading with him to Merseyside.

Their departures see Carl Fletcher move from his role as loans manager to chief scout, with Matt Harrold hired to take Fletcher’s position.

Pinto has been working in football since 2012 with Benfica, spending the last three years as general manager at Roma, before leaving earlier this year.

During his time in Rome, Pinto helped negotiate deals for Justin Kluivert and Matias Vina to join Cherries, while Italy international Nicolo Zaniolo was also discussed, but his move never materialised.

Cherries owner Foley said: “We’re excited to bring Tiago to the club.

“Neill and Simon have worked closely with him on a number of deals in recent seasons and have always been very impressed by him.

“Tiago arrives with great experience at some high-profile clubs already in his young career.

"Hiring somebody with his background reinforces the ambition that we have to succeed in the Premier League and in our multi-club project.”

As well as owning Cherries, Foley has financial interest in Hibernian in Scotland, FC Lorient, who have just been relegated from the top tier in France, and newly-created Auckland FC in New Zealand.