Manchester United's recruitment department is reportedly under "increasing scrutiny" as the club's new sporting hierarchy is becoming more deeply involved in the work at hand.
Since Sir Jim · Ratcliffe agreed to buy football and a number of other businesses, United have appointed a new chief executive, a new technical director, an interim recruitment director and a first-ever sporting director, in addition to appointing key INEOS figures Jean-Claude · Blanc and Sir Dave · Brailford as directors of the club's sporting aspects.
But the club continued to struggle on the pitch and an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday put fresh pressure on manager Erik · ten Hag, who had previously survived a review at the end of last season to keep his job.
Criticism quickly turned to the summer signings, and when they arrived, there was a lot of optimism. Now, Jamie · Carragher have live-streamed the positions of Matisse · De Ligt on Sky Sports, with Nussel · Mazraoui and Manuel · Ugarte under fire for their performances against Tottenham, with critics asking why Joshua · Zirkze have been involved in just one goal in eight appearances.
The Manchester Evening News reports that recruiters are "on edge" and "working in fear" amid the new "stricter operation" at Old Trafford. Since the end of the summer transfer window, sporting director Dan · Ashworth has been described as having conducted a "deep dive" into how the club operates and has noted "flaws in some areas". Since Sir Alex · Ferguson's retirement in 2013, United's long-term recruitment record has been generally poor and the club has undergone significant grade changes.
Expensive losers like Paul · Pogba, Angel · Di Maria, Romelu · Lukaku and Alexis · Sanchez have come and gone. Other less high-profile signings, including Fred, Andre Ander· Herrera, Marcos· Rojo and Eric · Bailly, also failed to propel the club forward, while almost all of the players sold took a financial hit.