

Manchester United are searching for a head of senior recruitment, a new role overseeing senior scouts, as part of their overhaul of that department.
United will also have regional heads of emerging talent across the main talent pools globally.
The appointments are part of the ongoing restructuring and attempted modernisation of the scouting network.
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United plan to retain significant human scouting and analytical capabilities, particularly focused on emerging talent, with strengthened data support, following the recruitment of Michael Sansoni as director of data. Sansoni was appointed from the Mercedes Formula One team earlier this year.
Sportsology, the sports intelligence consultancy, is supporting United on senior hires. The firm’s website lists NFL franchises the San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Rams among its clients, as well as MLS sides Inter Miami and FC Cincinnati.
The new head of senior recruitment will report into Christopher Vivell, who was appointed as United’s permanent director of recruitment in February following an interim spell in the position after signing a short-term deal last summer.
Vivell previously worked as technical director at Chelsea and as an executive at RB Leipzig. The 38-year-old leads United’s global recruitment operation, scouting structure and emerging talent. He reports into Jason Wilcox, who was promoted from technical director to director of football following the departure of Dan Ashworth from that role.
The Athletic reported in February that recruitment was among the areas which were set to see staff let go. United declined to comment at the time as they were in a formal legal redundancy process.
It forms part of a wider overhaul of the club’s football structure, which United have previously said is aimed at creating a more lean, agile and efficient set-up.
In April, The Athletic reported that director of scouting Steve Brown was to leave the club as part of the recruitment changes at Old Trafford, with the number of scouts to fall significantly as the second redundancy drive of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s reign kicked in.
Ratcliffe made it clear he felt the number of scouts, 80, United employed was too high. Staffing levels in this area had already been reduced from a couple of years ago when United employed 140 scouts — 50 full-time and 90 part-time.
It was anticipated up to 200 people would lose their jobs, following on from the 250 cut last summer.
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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