Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Manchester United overhaul has accelerated with John Murtough, the club’s football director, resigning from his position and departing the club.
Ratcliffe’s INEOS group now oversees football operations at Old Trafford following their acquisition of a 27.7% minority stake from the Glazer family, the club’s majority shareholder, in February.
With the appointment of Omar Berrada from Manchester City as United’s new CEO already underway and negotiations ongoing with Newcastle United and Southampton for Dan Ashworth (sporting director) and Jason Wilcox (technical director) respectively, INEOS is pushing for extensive changes at the club ahead of the upcoming season.
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Manager Erik ten Hag’s future is also in doubt — ESPN has reported that United are assessing the qualities of Gareth Southgate, Roberto De Zerbi, Thomas Frank and Gary O’Neil — while INEOS has also hired financial consultants Interpath to oversee a cost-saving exercise at Old Trafford, which already includes the stopping of all corporate credit cards for heads of department.
Murtough, who has previously worked with Everton, Fulham and the Premier League, joined United in 2013 after being hired by then-manager David Moyes to rebuild the club’s football structure behind the scenes.
He was then promoted to the football director position by former CEO Ed Woodward in 2021, with former United midfielder Darren Fletcher named as technical director at the same time.
Fletcher is expected to remain at United, despite Murtough’s exit and impending appointment of Ashworth and Wilcox, in a role linking the first-team and academy that will be confirmed during the summer.
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