Manchester United appoint Nicky Butt as head of first team development but will continue search for technical director
Manchester United’s academy restructuring will have no bearing on the club’s plans to appoint a technical director to help drive recruitment.
United have announced that Nicky Butt has vacated his role as head of the club’s academy in order to take up a newly created position as head of first team development that will see the former England midfielder reporting directly to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Butt will work closely with Solskjaer and his coaching staff to help smooth the transition to the first team for those youngsters considered ready to make the jump, as the likes of Mason Greenwood, Tahith Chong, Angel Gomes and James Garner are now doing.
It will be a hands on coaching and mentoring role that United hope will strength the club’s long-standing success in blooding youth team players into the first XI and his appointment continues the drive to have former players operating in key positions. Butt, in effect, will be providing a final bridge.
Nick Cox will take over from Butt as head of academy, which will involve taking the lead on both the coaching programme and operational matters such as sports science, education and analysis.
Butt’s appointment will not affect United’s plans to bring in a technical director to work within a transfer committee style framework on academy and first team recruitment. Although the indications are that Butt will no have no direct involvement in recruitment, he will form part of the club’s technical board on wider football matters.
United’s search for a technical director began once Jose Mourinho was sacked in December, the former manager having been resistant to the idea of such an appointment, and the club had planned to fill that role after the end of the season. However, with work on transfers already well under way, the club are prepared to bide their time and an appointment is expected at some stage later this year.
Darren Fletcher, the former United midfielder, has been used as something of a sounding board in recent months although it remains to be seen if he is in the running for the role.
United appear to favour the appointment of a former player or someone with a close association to the club. Recruitment is currently being driven by Solskjaer and his assistant Mike Phelan, Mick Court, the technical chief scout, head of global scouting Marcel Bout and chief scout Jim Lawlor, with transfer negotiations overseen by Matt Judge, the head of corporate development, and executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward.
Supporters have grown increasingly frustrated by the lack of transfer activity this summer at a time when they were expecting considerable change to a squad that finished sixth in the Premier League last season. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James are the only signings to date and moves for Harry Maguire, the England centre-half, and midfielder Sean Longstaff have been complicated by Leicester City and Newcastle United’s huge valuations.
United consider Butt - who has been keen to get on the training field and have more direct involvement with the development of players - to be ideally suited for the role. The 44-year-old was part of the famous “Class of 92” who rose to prominence under Sir Alex Ferguson and went on to make 387 appearances for the club over a 12-year period.
He will be tasked with trying to equip players as best as possible to make that final push up to the first team and will be able to draw on his own experience.
Cox - who joined United in May 2016 as academy operations manager and is a well respected figure - takes over as academy head but he will continue to work closely with Butt and report to John Murtough, the head of football development.
Ed Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman, said: “These changes will further enhance the excellent work and results we have seen over many decades in our academy system and enable us to continue our proud traditions of producing world-class players capable of playing and excelling in the first team.”
Butt said he believes United will continue to provide the perfect environment for aspiring youngsters hoping to break into the first team.
“Manchester United is in my DNA and this is a very proud moment for me as I take on this new role,” he said. “I am passionate about nurturing, developing and coaching the talent we have here to become top players at this club. Under Ole’s leadership, our vision will ensure that we continue to provide the right environment for our young players to thrive in.”
Cox believes the changes will improve the way United operate behind the scenes. “Having spent over 20 years working to support the development of young people, it is an honour to be asked to lead the Manchester United academy,” he said.
“Traditionally we have always been leaders in creating an outstanding environment in which young footballers can thrive. Today's changes will further enhance the excellent structure that we have in place to maximise the potential of all of our young players.”
