Manchester United intend to appoint a new sporting director once Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 25% investment in the club is formally completed - part of the businessman's plans to enhance and expand the football operations department in pursuit of on-field glory.
90min has previously reported that the plan is for Ratfcliffe to sit on a committee at the very top of the club overseeing immediate changes following the buy-in. He will be joined on that three-person panel by existing co-chairman Joel Glazer and current INEOS director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford.
Directly underneath the committee will be chief executive Richard Arnold, whose job continues to be running the business side of the club. But alongside Arnold will be a new figure in charge of sporting operations, above football director John Murtough and technical director Darren Fletcher.
The question on the lips of many United supporters is who will Ratcliffe look to bring into the club? Is there an internal candidate who is up for the job, or does fresh thinking and a new dynamic need to come in and provide a different atmosphere at Old Trafford?
Here's 90min's ranking of those who could be in the thinking.
8. Rio Ferdinand
United were thought to be considering former defender Rio Ferdinand as a candidate for a technial director role as far back as 2019. He has since firmly turned his hand to online content and the social media world, in addition to television punditry gigs, but still has useful expertise.
Ferdinand has also been sympathetic to the Glazer family amid the criticism following Sheikh Jassim withdrawing his offer for a full takeover.
"They have a right to decide who's going to come into the football club and what deal suits them best. This deal suits them best as a family, and some may not like it, but you have to respect it and go, 'right, OK, what's the next best case scenario for the football club?'" he exclusively told 90min.
7. Gary Neville
Gary Neville is a leading television pundit with Sky Sports, but is also already a club owner at League Two's Salford City, overseeing their meteoric rise through the divisions. He is also a serial businessman.
The United legend is unlikely ever to return to day to day coaching after his disastrous spell at Valencia, but being a sporting director has a different angle. It would, however, require him to put his many other projects on the back burner to focus on what would be a hugely intense job.
6. Darren Fletcher
Darren Fletcher set about launching a managerial career when he hung up his boots in 2019, first joining United that year to coach academy players. The Scot was promoted to the first-team staff at the start of 2021, but was then appointed technical director within just two months.
Were he to get the sporting director job, it would be an internal promotion, banking on someone already well versed in 'the United way'.
5. Max Eberl
Looking further field beyond former players who already know the club inside out, United could consider Max Eberl for his body of work as director of sport at Borussia Monchengladbach and later RB Leipzig.
During his 14 years overseeing sporting operations at Gladbach, the club pulled itself out of a 1990s and 2000s decline to qualify for the Champions League on a number of occasions. He left RB Leipzig last month and is believed to be on the radar of Bayern Munich.
4. Julian Ward
The last of Julian Ward's 11 years at Liverpool was spent as sporting director following an internal promotion in the summer of 2022. He had already played an integral role in the club's consistently successful and effective recruitment over previous seasons.
He is known for his dedication, even cancelling Christmas dinner to make sure Liverpool landed Cody Gakpo last December, and is particularly known for his role in recruiting South American players like Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz thanks to strong agent relationships.
3. Dan Ashworth
Following a modest non-league playing career, Dan Ashworth has held various directorial roles since before turning 30. He first worked at youth level until arguably his big break came as West Bromwich Albion's sporting and technical director back in 2007 when he was 36.
Ashworth was poached by the FA to become their director of elite development in 2012, was a rumoured candidatefor United as far back as 2018, then led Brighton's rise behind the scenes and is currently tasked with building Newcastle into one of the best teams in Europe.
2. Michael Edwards
United have previously played down the idea of approaching Michael Edwards, but there is no denying that that former Liverpool sporting director is one of the most revered figures in the game as a result of everything that was achieved at Anfield with him in the role.
Edwards stepped away from Liverpool in 2022 after 11 years and has since been linked with the likes of Chelsea and Real Madrid. He hasn't worked at a club since but was recently reported to be stepping back into football in an advisory capacity with the firm Ludonautics.
1. Paul Mitchell
Paul Mitchell is the overwhelming favourite to get the job. He is already well known to Ratcliffe, who is Monaco based, for his work in recent seasons at the principality club and has spoken publicly about returning to England.
United have been linked with Mitchell for several years already and he is revered for his past body of work as a scout and recruiter, which includes building Mauricio Pochettino's successful Southampton team, as well as the Tottenham side that later went on to reach the 2019 Champions League final under the Argentine.
Mitchell has worked at RB Leipzig too, where a leading philosophy, similar to United, is about developing young players.
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This article was originally published on 90min as The contenders to be Man Utd sporting director - ranked.
