Manchester United have finally appointed a Football Director. United were unusual among
top European clubs for not having an individual in this position. A search beginning in 2018
has culminated with John Murtough’s appointment to the role.
While some sporting directors operate largely away from the public eye, others, like Ralf
Rangnick, Monchi, or Michael Zorc, have been become well-known names for their ability
to oversee managerial transitions and player recruitment.
So, who is John Murtough, and what exactly will he be doing for Manchester United?
Firstly, it’s worth saying that the terminology here can be confusing.
Different clubs use different titles for roles that are similar, but not exactly the same.
Generally speaking, a Football Director, Sporting Director, or Director of Football has two
major functions: to plan recruitment by overseeing the scouting network, identifying targets
that fit with the club’s approach and ethos, and often negotiating those transfers.
They often also build succession plans, so that an incoming manager or head coach applies
a style and system of football that works with the existing playing squad.
The key to both elements is long-term, strategic vision. It allows clubs to avoid rushed decision-making
or appointments or signings that don’t fit what’s already there. These are both issues
United have struggled with in the past and part of what Murtough is there to negate.
Murtough was brought to United in November 2013 by David Moyes and rose to prominence
as a ‘fixer’, according to The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell, preparing reports on all
aspects of the club for the then-new chairman Ed Woodward. Murtough became head of football
development in 2016, overseeing alterations to the academy, a task that suited him because
of his previous experience running the FA’s Elite Player Performance Plan.
Murtough was involved in bringing in Nick Cox as academy chief and, four years ago,
Dave Harrison from Manchester City as head of youth recruitment. Spending on the academy
increased fourfold between 2015 and last year, and the coaching staff has grown too.
So, Murtough’s interest and influence extends throughout the club already: he’s worked
with the women’s team, a growing force in the domestic game, and with his appointee
Steve Brown, the club’s head of scouting. He’s been credited with having had significant
influence in United’s recent drive to sign promising young talents like Amad [Diallo]
and Hannibal Mejbri.
Working with Murtough will be Darren Fletcher, in his new role of technical director. While
less clear, it’s expected that Fletcher will add footballing credibility to United’s
efforts to sell themselves to top level transfer targets, as well as work with senior figures
like Nicky Butt, head of first team development, and the coaching staff, to maintain a link
between the technical side and the playing side of the organisation.
The structure, which looks like this [see bottom of script], will shift the day-to-day
work of player acquisition away from Woodward and the retitled director of football negotiations
Matt Judge, although Judge will then take over once targets have been approached to
work through contracts as was previously the case. Above this new structure, Woodward will
oversee and liaise with the owner, Joel Glazer, and ultimately sign off on deals.
United have struggled to find a system that works having moved away from the immensely
successful, but autocratic, approach of Sir Alex Ferguson. This is partly because Ferguson
was unique, able to sit across elements of the club in a way that his longevity made
possible for him, but unlikely for any successor. Football has evolved and its top clubs have
grown into a multi-faceted organisations. The demands on a modern-day coach make being
equally involved with transfer activity, as well as managing the first team, overseeing
a youth system, and working with sports science departments completely unrealistic..
United have also come to realise that the more continental model of a sporting director
is not entirely desirable for them. A thoughtful and experienced voice who is part of conversations
suits both Woodward and Solskjaer more than a buffer with decision-making autonomy who
sits between the two. That’s what a traditional football director would do, but it doesn’t
fit United’s current methods or the personalities already at the club.
So, instead, United have promoted Murtough to function within recruitment, rather than
as an all-powerful figure. He’s there to provide a greater degree of long-term strategy,
and to bring specific footballing and recruitment expertise.
This very likely will include conversations about potential future head coaches or managers,
but without the power to appoint them – that will reside with Woodward and Glazer alone.
Darren Fletcher, who won five Premier League titles and a European Cup brings genuine football
knowledge. This should aid both in talent identification and in selling the club to
potential targets, especially as yet another senior member of staff with credibility as
a formerly successful player in the club’s colours.
This appointment should improve United’s workings in the transfer market. Murtough
himself was head of a 2020 working group which aimed to enhance the club’s data strategy
and, while those improvements remain in process, they’ll work in conjunction with a traditional
scouting department which has been under refinement for some time.
But there is still the danger that managerial transitions, without the proper long-term
planning that could sit above that process from a figure of genuinely footballing experience,
could go wrong. United probably don’t want to disturb the status quo too much, and an
internal appointment of a figure already known and respected within the club, but without
the same level of power as some football directors, works for them.
United have long been a football club that prizes the idea of a club DNA, the ‘United
way’, and it’s probably the case that they have more former players in senior positions
than any other major English side. This should afford them a degree of continuity whatever
happens, in ethos and outlook at least, and the new structure is there to help by making
the mechanics of player acquisition better
and smoother.