Manchester United have a lot going on right now, with Ineos looking to establish a new footballing structure.
As the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks imminent at Old Trafford, links to a sporting director have intensified.
Dan Ashworth seems to be the man Manchester United are desperate to get through the doors. While a head of recruitment is also believed to be on the cards.
United in Focus spoke to HITC Football’s transfer expert Graeme Bailey to see what this improved structure means for United and also on other topics such as the centre-half position.
Dan Ashworth to Manchester United latest
The arrival of Ashworth at Manchester United, if confirmed, will see him join Omar Berrada in what is an incredible footballing structure.
It’s left many excited, representing a vast improvement upon the days of Richard Arnold and John Murtough.
On Ashworth and how likely he is to arrive, Graeme Bailey said: “You know, the fact is it looks like it might happen, the appointment anyway fairly quickly. It’s accelerated since the Premier League approval for Ratcliffe, they’re trying to get deals done. They’ve got obviously Barreda in place and Ashworth has always been the one you know, I first reported back in December that Ashworth was really the one for Brailsford.
“United know what they need to do, know what they need to pay and I suspect after the weekend; it’ll accelerate even more, and we’ll see where it goes. The fact is that Ashworth wants to move as well. I think that’s telling and that will be the thing that really tipped the balance here.”
Continuing, he explained that Ashworth is viewed as much more than just a sporting director: “I think they see him; you know he’s a multitasker. He’s more than just a recruiter, they see him in this ambassadorial role as well, just that figurehead, like David Gill was.”
Praising Ineos’ recruitment
We then asked Bailey about the head of recruitment role which is set to be in place at United, while he also praised Ineos’ leading men for their smart decisions in appointing the very best instead of taking the jobs themselves.
“It just cries, sensibility if anything, you know, I think the way Ineos have done it where you’ve got Brailsford and Blanc who are gonna sit on the board. Brailsford and Blanc could have been the CEO and Brailsford could have been the sporting director they haven’t done that they’ve done the sensible thing.
“I think that’s a really encouraging thing for United where they’re both very good in terms of sporting prowess, Brailsford and Blanc themselves but they’re bringing the right people in, you know Berrada coming in from City, I think he will be slightly more commercial than the sporting director and then obviously we know the plan was to bring in a head of recruitment, someone to serve under Ashworth.
“Paul Mitchell was one they’d mentioned but I think they’d assessed that and I think the [Jason] Wilcox thing has come about, we know Barreda has recommended him to that role. So, they’ve gone with that now so if it can get Ashworth, Barreda with Wilcox in there as well, I think it’d be a fascinating trio.”
He then continued to explain that the scouting at United will remain the same, but that the decisions above the scouts will improve tenfold.
“They’re not going to overhaul the scouting department, they’re quite happy with the scouting department that you know, I don’t think the scouting department have come up short and what the scouting department said is they find the players and look at them.
“It’s then not up to the scouting department to come up with a value and the scouting department recommended Hojlund for instance, they didn’t recommend paying £70 million for him but they did recommend him and did the work on him.
“So I don’t think there’s a huge issue there but I think they’ll with Ashworth, with Wilcox, it’ll just be a more detailed approach and the way they go about the business. I think they’ll have a huge impact on United.”
On Manchester United’s hunt for a new centre-back
We also discussed the centre-half situation with Graeme Bailey and looked at who United are likely to look into this summer, along with the contract situations of Victor Lindelof and Raphael Varane.
“Lindelof’s got the option [to extend] obviously, Varane does have an option there. It may come down to the fact of who’s going to be who’s going to be in charge next season, we still think it’d be Ten Hag although that’s not in concrete just yet.
“It’ll be assessed by the new football department coming in. So I think there will be some players who we thought had a real future at Old Trafford, who won’t. There’ll be some players who we thought were on the way out suddenly staying that was just going to be a natural progression. The sporting director will play a big role in that and it won’t purely be down to Ten Hag.
“They do want a centre-half, it’s no secret that one of the players they’ve been looking at is Antonio Silva from Benfica for instance, absolute Rolls Royce of a defender, I think he’s fantastic.
“Scalvini, I think Scalvini and Silva are the two really have been impressive, both outstanding players.”
Interestingly, he then refuted the idea that Branthwaite is a likely arrival as it’s actually unlikely that Everton sell this summer.
“It’s interesting on Branthwaite, it’s been suggested to me, is very much seen as that Phil Jones type player where, you know, all of the top four or five would take him. I think it would depend on where Everton finish.
“He’s certainly one to watch Man United appreciate him they like him a lot. I think it’s more if Branthwaite is on the market, then they’ll look at it but I don’t think all the clubs are convinced Branthwaite will be leaving this summer. To get Branthwaite out of Everton will be a very costly exercise.”
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/QBlvUOV