A scout who has been at Man United for 18 years has confirmed he is leaving his role at the club.
Cristiano Ronaldo and departing Manchester United scout Antonio Cruz(Image: )
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Manchester United scout Antonio Cruz has confirmed he is leaving the club after 18 years of service as a first-team talent-spotter in Portugal and Spain.
Known as Toninho, Cruz confirmed his departure on LinkedIn, and he is the latest scout to leave Old Trafford as the club follows the modern trend of using data and AI to aid their recruitment and player watching.
A former lower-league player in Portugal, Cruz is one of dozens of full-time scouts to leave United over the past 12 months, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe's second round of redundancies including a slimming down of the scouting department.
More than 80 full-time scouts were employed at that time, but swathes have been made redundant or moved on as director of recruitment Christopher Vivell seeks to overhaul what Ineos felt was an antiquated set-up.
Writing on LinkedIn, Cruz said: “After 18 years at Manchester United as an International Scout, the time has come for me to close this important chapter of my career.
“Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey.”
Cruz joined United in 2007 and as well as scouting first-team players in Portugal and Spain, he would offer valuable insight into Portuguese opponents ahead of European fixtures. His biggest success story from a recruitment perspective is helping scout Bruno Fernandes, who joined the club six years ago.
United recently advertised for three new roles at the club to assist with their data-led approach, with the aim of appointing a senior football data scientist, a senior football data engineer and a senior software engineer.
The data scientist would be involved in solving "football-related questions" across men's, women's and academy teams and that data would be used in recruitment.
United appointed Michael Sansoni as their director of data in April. Sansoni previously worked at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team, which is part-owned by Ineos.
Ratcliffe was critical of United's approach to data after investing in the club, telling the United We Stand fanzine it was "still in the last century of data analysis". Sansoni has been handed the power to bring United up to speed in terms of data, with some of their Premier League rivals enjoying a significant head start.