Manchester United have expanded their scouting network in London in the hope of convincing the 'next Marcus Rashford' to join the club.
The Red Devils have brought in two scouts to focus on the capital in the hope that they can continue to bring the best young talent to the club, with the idea of getting United back to the top.
United have an extensive scouting network across the whole world who report back to club chiefs including Football director John Murtough and technical director Darren Fletcher.
What's been said?
In a fans' forum meeting held in April, Murtogh discussed the expansion of the scouting network and said: "The north-west area remains important to ensure we convince the next Marcus [Rashford], Jesse [Lingard] or Mason [Greenwood] to play for United.
"The scouting network across the rest of the UK have also been strengthened. Recently, two new scouts have came on board to focus on the London area.
"The club’s tradition of looking at bringing in the best 17-18 year olds from across the world will also continue. The scouting team work closely with Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] to produce options for consideration based on the type of profile which Ole feels that the team needs.
"Ole has a veto, because as a club we will not sign a player that a manager doesn't want."
United's youth system
United’s extensive scouting network is nothing new. In recent years they’ve been targeting the best players from overseas in a bid to boost their youth system, with the global scouting team headed up by Marcel Bout.
Players like Hannibal Mejbri, Marc Jurado and Alvaro Fernandez have all impressed since arriving from Monaco, Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
They’ve also brought in Charlie McNeill from Manchester City, while Joe Hugill has also joined from Sunderland as the Red Devils continue to target the best young talent in the country.
The head of the academy at United is Nick Cox, while the club's former midfielder Nicky Butt had been the head of first-team development before an announcement back in March that he would be stepping down from the role.
United's Under-18s side, meanwhile, are managed by Neil Ryan and they are currently sitting top of the standings in Group North of the Under-18 Premier League. They were, however, knocked out of the FA Youth Cup at the fourth round stage by Liverpool.
What else was said?
Murtough spoke about the transfer window, with the Premier League club hoping to bring in a couple of new faces to add to Solskjaer’s squad.
He said: "The club has always backed its manager in the transfer market. It’s evident from what's gone on over the last two or three seasons that there has been a structured and disciplined approach to player recruitment.
"The transfer market will be challenging in the next 12 months but when the right players are available, which fit our profile, for the right values, we will be in and around those opportunities as and when they arise."
Further reading
- Fernandes hopes to manage Man Utd one day
- Former City star Dzeko 'not scared' of Man Utd
- Bailly signs news Man Utd contract
