After Graham Potter added former West Ham United goalkeeping coach Linus Kandolin to his Sweden staff, one-time head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay looks set to become the latest former London Stadium employee to find a new role elsewhere.
Macaulay, Potter’s long-standing right-hand man, is joining Manchester United as their new head of senior scouting.
A Red Devils outfit, determined to modernise their recruitment department after wasting millions upon millions on ill-fitting signings, are hoping to tap into Macaulay’s diamond-spotting abilities.
Alongside Graham Potter at Brighton, the 39-year-old former Aberdeen midfielder played a major role in the signings of Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Jan-Paul van Hecke, Kaoru Mitoma and more.
At West Ham United though, his impact was not felt quite as keenly.
While Hammers News can confirm that Macaulay green-lit the signing of El Hadji Malick Diouf – an addition right out of the Seagulls playbook – 33-year-old Callum Wilson was not exactly the up-and-coming, fresh-faced striking sensation the fans may have been hoping for.
Though, in his defence, Macaulay did identify Midtjylland’s Franculino Dju as one to watch. And watch him West Ham did. They even made an offer, if reports are to be believed.
Now, as Franculino joins Erling Haaland and Harry Kane as the joint-highest goalscorer across Europe’s top-15 domestic leagues, reported interest from Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain will have West Ham fearing that they have missed the boat.
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Do not be surprised to see Manchester United join the running, too, for one of the most coveted young goal-getters in the game.
Franculino Dju celebrates a goal for FC Midtjylland
Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images
West Ham United may be wishing they had signed Franculino Dju before Kyle Macaulay’s exit
Franculino has rattled home a formidable 19 goals in 27 matches throughout the 2025/26 campaign.
The latest African sensation to make his name in Scandinavia, after Mohammed Kudus and ex-Tromso left-back Diouf, it is no wonder Franculino is the talk of scouts from Barcelona to Bavaria and plenty in between.
West Ham, though, appeared to have been somewhat ahead of the curve when it comes to this 21-year-old Guinea Bissau international.
Is Franculino Dju the striker West Ham have been crying out for?
Danish publication Bold reported that West Ham had a £13 million bid rejected by Midtjylland late last summer, shortly after Macaulay added Franculino to the club’s watchlist.
Just 21 years of age and an emerging talent from outside of Europe’s major leagues, Franculino was certainly the sort of inspired, low-cost, high-reward addition West Ham would have been hoping for when they hired Macaulay in the first place.
Now, as his reputation grows alongside his price-tag and Barcelona join PSG and Bayern Munich in expressing their interest, one suspects that Franculino may be someone Macaulay brings up pretty quickly during his first meetings with the rest of Manchester United’s recruitment team.
“His level is high enough that he can reach as far as he wants,” Midtjylland winger Dario Osorio told Campo this week. “He knows how far he wants to go and I believe he can achieve it.
“‘Francu’ has scored a lot of goals.”
Midtjylland director Kristian Bach Bak has no plans to sell Franculino in January
Hammers News can confirm that Nuno Espirito Santo wants a striker in the building in early-2026. Ivan Toney, Kaio Jorge, Chris Wood, Endrick, Mateo Pellegrino, Roberto Piccoli and Joshua Zirkzee are among those to be mentioned, with varying degrees of truth.
Speaking of Zirkzee, the goal-shy Dutchman is expected to leave Manchester United at some point in the New Year. Will Macaulay put forward the case for Franculino to take his spot, as a competitor to Benjamin Sesko at Old Trafford?
Should West Ham cut their losses on Niclas Fullkrug in January?
“I think it might make sense to make a change.
“Many would probably agree that Niclas is a classic penalty-area striker – strong in the air, physically powerful, able to shield the ball – basically made for the Premier League. [But] in retrospect, you have to say the transfer didn’t work. There’s no sugar-coating it.
“Time and again, just when you thought, ‘now he’s coming, now he’ll show England it wasn’t just a good Euro and then nothing afterwards’, another injury came. And that’s a shame.
“He’s had a bit of negative momentum and also some bad luck” – agent Thorsten Wirth
One thing is for certain, Midtjylland will not let Franculino go without a fight.
“If we win titles and perform well in Europe, then we will both achieve our dreams,” sporting director Kristian Bach Bak told Bold last week. “This is exactly the journey we want to take with our players. And considering the average age of the first team, it goes without saying that people are keeping an eye on what is happening in FCM.
“I do, 100 per cent [believe Franculino will stay], because Franculino knows that his dream will be achieved if we achieve something big together this season.
“Football is football, so we shouldn’t talk about amounts and prices. The most important thing is trust and that the club and the player have the same plan.
“So, it’s 100 per cent the plan to keep the team together until the summer, because strategically it would be the stupidest thing to do if we sold out halfway through the season. It is also a plan that has been made with the players.”
Macaulay also encouraged the pursuit of then-Metz striker Idrissa Gueye during his time in the capital.
After the Senegal starlet moved to Italy instead, Udinese confirmed that they had beaten West Ham to Gueye’s £13 million signature.
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