Man Utd are set to appoint a new academy director from Brentford after Nick Cox's decision to leave for Everton.
The academy building at Carrington.
Manchester United are closing in on the appointment of Brentford academy director Stephen Torpey.
The Manchester Evening News exclusively revealed that Torpey was being considered to succeed Nick Cox, and the club are now thought to be close to finalising the appointment.
In June, it was confirmed that Cox was to leave the academy after nine years of service to become technical director at Everton. During his time in charge, Cox has played a pivotal role in United's academy's renaissance, securing top youth signings and overseeing an FA Youth Cup triumph in 2022.
Torpey was appointed as Brentford's academy director in January 2024. Brentford hired him to essentially build their academy from scratch and deliver Category One academy status, but he is a candidate who could potentially relocate to Manchester after spending just a year-and-a-half in London.
Torpey was previously at Manchester City, where he spent nine-and-a-half years in different positions, notably working closely alongside Jason Wilcox, director of football at United.
Torpey joined City in 2014 and gradually worked his way up in their academy to become the head of coaching between the Under-15 and Under-23 age groups in 2020, a role in which he oversaw trophy wins.
The 43-year-old is credited with helping City implement a Barcelona-style coaching system, which has subsequently enabled the club's youth teams to win trophies with a similar style of football to their first-team.
Torpey played a role in the development of Cole Palmer, James McAtee and Rico Lewis, who all progressed through the academy system at City to make senior debuts under Pep Guardiola. He also played a role in player recruitment as part of a team of academy staff who pitched to potential new signings.
After a modest playing career which began as a youngster at Liverpool, Torpey explored a career in coaching and returned to Anfield. He was welcomed back to Merseyside as a Liverpool academy graduate, and worked in the youth system while it underwent a period of change, guided by the Spanish influence of Rafael Benitez.
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