Manchester United are reportedly looking into a deal to bring Southampton's director of football Jason Wilcox on board as a key figure in the club's revamped sporting structure.
The Football Association approved Sir Jim Ratcliffe's acquisition of a 25% stake in Manchester United earlier this week, and the British billionaire is now poised to implement further changes at the board level of the club.
Following the news of Manchester City's chief football operations manager Omar Berrada moving to the red half of Manchester this summer, United's new minority owner has already initiated additional efforts to assemble a management team aimed at revitalising the club following a period of decline.
According to The Athletic, the Red Devils are currently scouting for top talents from other English clubs and across Europe and have identified Wilcox as someone they would like to recruit a part of the restructure.
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The report adds that United hold Wilcox in high regard, and the 53-year-old is believed to be aware of the interest in his services, although the Manchester club has not made a formal approach as yet.
As part of the backroom overhaul, Man United are also understood to be pursuing the addition of Newcastle United's Dan Ashworth as a possible replacement for Richard Arnold as the club's sporting director.
Ashworth holds a comparable position at Newcastle and the Magpies are expected to demand compensation believed to be in the region of £10m if Man United are to pry him away from Tyneside.
That means that if Wilcox were to leave Tyneside and join Man United, he would report to both Ashworth and Berrada as part of the club's new sporting hierarchy.
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Wilcox and Berrada are acquainted from their time together at Man City, where the former served as the academy director before assuming the role of director of personnel at Southampton.
During his tenure at Man City, Wilcox played a major role in the development of the likes of Phil Foden, Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb.
Additionally, Cole Palmer, who is now with Chelsea, also emerged as a promising prospect under his guidance.
While Ratcliffe and co continue to attempt to bolster United's backroom staff, the club remains focused on securing a top-four finish to earn a spot in the Champions League next term.
The Red Devils currently sit sixth in the Premier League standings and are set to face Luton Town on Sunday in their next top-flight outing.
Devesh Jaganath
