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Kieran Maguire urges Man United to make top-class appointment to replace man 'definitely leaving'
Man United need to hire a director of football under Sir Jim Ratcliffe to keep up with Man City and Liverpool.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that the Red Devils have failed to keep up with the data-driven models used by their rivals.
Ratcliffe is set to take sporting control at Old Trafford once his 25 percent takeover is announced by the Manchester club.
United have already begun to make changes behind the scenes with club CEO Richard Arnold set to leave before the end of the year.
As reported by the Daily Mail, John Murtough is ‘definitely’ leaving the club, opening up a vacancy for a new director of football.
Dougie Freedman and Paul Mitchell are among the early contenders to replace Murtough at Old Trafford. [The Telegraph]
Maguire believes United are in need of a new director after spending £1.8billion on players over the past decade without turning it into success.
“Yes, Manchester United have become a buffalo in a herd of gazelles when it comes to the use of data, talent identification and recruitment,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“What the Glazers have done is simply approve a very competitive budget over the years.
“Manchester United have spent £1.8billion on player recruitment since Sir Alex retired.
“But they have failed to move with the times.
“They’ve failed to embrace a data-driven system that is being used by their rivals.
“If you look at the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City, they are very much driven by data and they make very few poor decisions.
“Liverpool have also recruited superbly over the course of the summer with [Dominik] Szoboszlai and [Alexis] Mac Allister and they are now challenging because they do their homework when recruiting players.“
In other news, Man United, Man City and Chelsea in race to sign Le Havre sensation Arouna Sangante