Manchester United are in the middle of a long-awaited rebuild — and it’s not just happening on the pitch.
With manager Ruben Amorim already stamping his authority on the squad and Sir Jim Ratcliffe reshaping the club’s football operations, the off-field transformation continues to accelerate behind the scenes.
Last season, Ratcliffe criticised United for lagging behind in data innovation, claiming the club was “still in the last century on data analysis.”
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His words have triggered a wave of change, with major redundancies, the introduction of new personnel, and an aggressive shift towards a more data-driven model already underway at Carrington.
Brighton’s success using analytical models has become the blueprint — and now United appear to be following suit.
Christopher Vivell, who joined Manchester United last year on a temporary basis, has now been handed full authority over a drastically streamlined scouting network.
The 38-year-old, previously with Chelsea and RB Leipzig, has been named the club’s director of recruitment and is now in charge of what’s left of United’s once-bloated scouting team.
Where the Red Devils previously operated with more than 100 scouts, the number has now been cut down to just ten first-team scouts following two rounds of redundancies in the past 12 months, as per the Manchester Evening News.
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The ten remaining scouts — Armand Benneker, Marco de Sisti, Roy Beukenkamp, Giuseppe Antonaccio, Ben McFarlan, Jose Mayorga, John Lambert, Norbert Düwel, Steve Head and Nicolas Cinalli — will report directly to Christopher Vivell as he leads United into a more analytical era of player recruitment.
Vivell helped oversee the club’s summer recruitment during his interim spell, in what was the first window following Ratcliffe’s minority investment in February 2024.
United sources say the hierarchy has placed full trust in Vivell to modernise their approach after years of underwhelming business in the transfer market.
His rise marks a clear departure from the old regime, with former football director John Murtough and head of data science Dominic Jordan both leaving shortly after Ratcliffe’s arrival.
With data taking priority and Vivell at the helm, United’s future in recruitment may finally match its ambitions on the pitch.
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