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Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s overhaul of Manchester United’s football operations is continuing at pace, with major changes across the club’s recruitment and scouting departments.
As part of INEOS’ drive to create a leaner and more modern football structure, staffing cuts have already hit multiple departments.
Recruitment has been a major focus of that too.
The aim is to increase efficiency and build a future-facing team behind the scenes.
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Especially with Jason Wilcox now leading football operations and Christopher Vivell managing global recruitment.
Now, as revealed by David Ornstein’s report for The Athletic, United are set to appoint a new head of senior recruitment to lead a revamped scouting team.
This newly created role will oversee the club’s senior scouts and support Vivell in shaping the strategic direction of global talent acquisition.
It forms a central part of a broader modernisation project to better identify and secure talent in a more structured, data-driven way.
The incoming head will report directly to Vivell.
Vivell, who took over permanently in February after an interim stint, and previously held key roles at Chelsea and RB Leipzig.
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Vivell will also oversee several regional heads of emerging talent, helping United sharpen their scouting focus across major global markets.
Much of the club’s traditional scouting structure has already been dismantled.
Steve Brown, United’s director of scouting, was set to be leaving earlier this year in April.
The club’s total scouting headcount is set to be reduced dramatically.
At its peak, United had 140 scouts.
However, that number is expected to fall below 80 under the new model, as stated by Ornstein’s report.
Sportsology, the same firm working with NFL and MLS franchises, are assisting United with senior hires in this transition.
The restructuring also coincides with the arrival of Michael Sansoni, who was taken on earlier this year.
Sansoni, who was recruited from the Mercedes Formula One team as director of data.
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His appointment reinforces United’s push for enhanced data integration to support human scouting.
Despite the cuts, the club insists it will retain a strong focus on human scouting.
Particularly in emerging talent – supported by a bolstered analytics setup.
However, these changes are also part of wider cost-saving measures.
Following 250 job losses last summer, up to 200 more roles are expected to be cut across the club in the current drive.
Ratcliffe certainly isn’t slowing down in his bid to streamline operations for United to become a sustainable football club.
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