Manchester United are looking to make major appointment

Football, in general, has evolved at a striking rate over the decades, both internally and externally. Manchester United should follow the trail as well.

Many new clubs have emerged, many new positions within those clubs have come to light over the years and the role of a sporting director or director of football is one of them. If we take a brief look at the definition of sporting director, it states that the occupant of that role enjoys a position between the club’s chief executive or the chairman and the head coach.

A sporting director holds the power of hiring or sacking the candidates working under him. Manchester United don’t have one at the moment. But if they were to appoint one in the near future, he should occupy a position between Ed Woodward and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, if he is in the job at that point of time.

The board have had tried to bring in a sporting director and fill the respective position many times in the past. But their endeavours have failed till now, with the 20-time English champions still looking to fill the role.

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Manchester United are targeting Juventus chief scout Matteo Tognozzi

According to an exclusive report from Stretty News, the United hierarchy is “in talks” with the chief scout of Juventus, Matteo Tognozzi, for the role of a sporting director at Old Trafford.

Celtic could be a barrier between Manchester United and Tognozzi. As far as the reports are concerned, the Red Devils are involved in a “direct competition” with the Scottish giants, with the Glasgow-based side hopeful of reaching an agreement with Tognozzi soon.

Deemed as a “recruitment specialist”, Tognozzi has done a remarkable job with the Bianconeri so far, bringing in young talents such as Weston McKennie, Dejan Kulusevski and Federico Chiesa last summer. He now aspires to become a sporting director and could be provided that opportunity at Old Trafford.

In England, managers make a definitive decision while making acquisitions or offloading members at clubs without a sporting director. As of now, Solskjaer plays the same role at Manchester United.

The arrival of a new director of football would see Solskjaer seeking aid from him rather than the club’s chief executive in Ed Woodward, who would assume a much more hands off role then. However, there might be some differences as the boundary of the respective role totally depends on the club’s ultimate approval.