6 Manchester options for the new management of the club

After the recent controversies, it seems that Wilcox, the sports director of United, will leave soon and the club is monitoring the famous six nuts in football management.

Lisandro Martinez's sharp and public attack on the managers of Manchester United after the bitter 2-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League has increased the pressure on Jason Wilcox, the club's football manager, and has seriously shaken his position.

After the match, Martinez bluntly took aim at the club's senior management, saying he "expects more from the team's technical director" and stressed that "more should be expected from the club's upper levels". These statements were made in a situation where the management structure of Inios under the supervision of Sir Jim Ratcliffe is accused of not providing the necessary support to Michael Carrick in the summer transfer window and failing to meet the head coach's wishes. With the situation at Old Trafford becoming critical, speculation about Wilcox's sacking has intensified and six prominent figures have been put forward as potential options to lead United's sporting department.

Jason Eto'o left the club's sporting management in June after nine months at Brighton. The unexpected departure, reported by Athletic, was due to his fundamental disagreements with club owner Tony Bloom's completely data-driven transfer model. Of course, this 41-year-old manager is not against data analysis, but during his eleven years of brilliant career at Arsenal, he learned that statistics should be placed side by side with traditional talent scouting, live matches and video analysis. The balance of traditional vision and modern analysis is exactly what Old Trafford has been missing for years.

Piero Asilio resigned from his position after 28 years of effective service at Inter. Although there have been rumors of him informally agreeing to work with Roberto Di Zerbi in the winter window, Manchester United could act in time to sign the veteran manager. At Inter, Assilio showed amazing expertise in attracting high-quality free players, economic purchases and discovering young phenomena, and his £47.2 million profit from the sale of Andre Onana to Manchester United is a testament to his high financial acumen in the transfer market.

Laurence Stewart's departure after four years as one of Chelsea's senior sporting directors has been confirmed and United could make a move to attract this well-known sports management figure in English football. Prior to joining Stamford Bridge, Stewart was Monaco's technical director for three years and was previously head of Red Bull's global talent acquisitions, having also worked on the recruitment staff at Manchester City and Everton. His skill in managing the budget and improving the composition of the teams can calm the Red Devils in terms of financial discipline.

If United wants to go for a rising star in the world of football management instead of experienced faces, American Jared Dublin is an exciting option. This 34-year-old manager went to Hull City in 2024 as a manager of player recruitment and shortly after became the sporting director. After rescuing the team from relegation, he laid the foundations for Hull City's brilliant promotion to the Premier League in 2026 and left before seeing the final fruits of his labor over a pay dispute. Dublin has previously worked for Stoke City, Sheffield United and Reading and giving him the helm of United would be a big but interesting gamble.

Michael Edwards is a controversial choice for fans due to his many years of association with Liverpool, but no one can deny his genius in rebuilding a great team. After around 15 years at Anfield and playing the role of behind-the-scenes architect in Jurgen Klopp's golden era, Edwards left Liverpool in 2022 and returned two years later as chief executive of the club's ownership company. Although his credibility has been somewhat questioned in recent seasons with issues such as Mohamed Salah's departure, if Edwards regains his past managerial acumen, he could return Old Trafford's sleeping giants to their glory days after years.

Borussia Dortmund's player style in the 21st century has been one of the leading models of European football. Former Dortmund captain Sebastien Kell joined the administrative staff in 2018 and was the sporting director of the Yellow Jackets for four years before leaving the club in March. During this time, he bought or developed players such as Serhu Girassi, Felix Nmecha, Karim Ademi, Julian Ryerson, Jimmy Gittens and Niko Schlotterback with a well calculated budget. The skill of this 46-year-old figure in maximizing efficiency with minimum costs is exactly the panacea that can close Manchester United's case of expensive and fruitless acquisitions forever.