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Manchester United resume director of football search but transfer strategy set to remain unaffected
Manchester United are resuming their hunt for a director of football - but the appointment will not be given overriding power on transfers.
Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has decided to step up his search for a football figure to work between the playing side of the club and the board - two years after first planning to create the role.
It’s understood United are happy with the recruitment model they have put in place since Jose Mourinho was sacked in December 2018.
They plan to stick to a transfer committee-style system in which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a leading voice alongside scouts and analysts.
No definite date has been placed on an appointment, but Woodward has put the issue firmly on his agenda over the coming weeks and months.
His initial plans to appoint a director of football were shelved due to Mourinho’s opposition to working beneath someone when it came to transfer strategy.
United then conducted a dual search for both that position and a manager before Solskjaer was appointed on a permanent basis.
Woodward decided a technical director was what was required, rather than director of football - and that may yet be the title given to the role.
But his search has spent the last year on ice as United have continued to evolve their structure.
Nicky Butt moved from academy director to head of first-team development and has made an enormous impact in his first year in the job.
Meanwhile, Solskjaer and assistant Mike Phelan have played a major part in focusing United’s transfer strategy, with the club hugely impressed with the signings of Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Bruno Fernandes.
Woodward will be careful not to upset the dynamic he has in place after years of transfer failures since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
Previous names considered for the role were Andrea Berta and Fabio Paratici. Antero Henrique is another name to have been linked.
Woodward, who has been heavily criticised for not bringing in a football figure to control transfers, was determined not to allow a director of football to be a focus of blame for United’s failings.
But the club is in a far more settled position under Solskjaer, in particular with their transfer dealings. It makes it a safer environment to bring in a new figure as the final piece of the restructuring that’s gathered pace over the last 12 months.
Woodward knows he faces a critical transfer window this summer, with Solskjaer hoping to make three major signings to build a squad capable of mounting a title challenge next season.
It means an incoming director of football is unlikely to play a major role in recruitment during this window unless the appointment comes from within.
Solskjaer and the transfer committee drew up their targets in January, although Covid-19 has forced a rethink.
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