Five fascinating insights as Man Utd chief Wilcox talks Harlem Globetrotters, Sesko and Amorim
Man Utd director of football Jason Wilcox has made an appearance on a new podcast series for the Red Devils’ official website called ‘Inside Carrington’.
Wilcox has gone from complete silence to two interviews in a week after the tide has turned in a positive direction for Man Utd over the past month.
Ruben Amorim won his first back-to-back games since arriving at Old Trafford a year ago and those two wins turned into three when they beat Brighton 4-2 late last month.
A 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest at the weekend would have been a great result last season and it was important this campaign in order to keep Amorim’s unbeaten run going.
Confidence is slowly building at Old Trafford with Man Utd supporters no longer looking ahead to matches with trepidation.
A few good results on the bounce has already seen Wilcox pat himself on the back and now he has had a deep dive into various subjects to do with the club.
Here are five of his most fascinating insights from the ‘Inside Carrington’ interview…
Man are looking for ‘clean-living professionals’ and not Harlem Globetrotters
Wilcox said: “It is not about putting the Harlem Globetrotters together. If I look at successful Man United teams, there were very functional players that would die for the badge and there were some mavericks.”
On what the Red Devils are looking for, the Man Utd director of football added: “Last year’s summer window [2024] was a lot more chaotic than this one and this one was really calm. With this one, we knew the plan, we knew which players we were going to target, we had our lists, we knew which areas of the pitch we needed to improve.
“These are continuous meetings with myself and Ruben [Amorim], with Chris Vivell and with his team underneath, where we are very clear on the profiles that we need. So, the brief will come from myself and Ruben, it goes into Chris, there is a lot of debate and discussion around the profiles that we need, and then the scouts will go into the market, we will combine that with the data team and then there will just be constant dialogue.
“Right now, I am having weekly meetings with the recruitment team on the different profiles, the age bracket, the cost, are they attainable, with Ruben as well, so it is a really joined-up approach. When we sign a player, there are so many people that are involved in the process. The data team are involved in the process and we will then focus all our attention on certain players.”
“It is really important then that we do the background checks on whether they are clean-living professionals. This is really important. This year, we looked at Premier League-ready players and certainly with Bryan [Mbeumo] and Matheus [Cunha], we couldn’t take too much risk in this area. We needed players that we could plug in and play, with little transition time.”
Senne Lammens will be a ‘top signing’
“Senne [Lammens], we were always looking at goalkeepers that have got huge potential. Senne was available and we decided to move, but it wasn’t a kneejerk reaction. Tony Coton was putting Senne on my radar 12 months ago and he was relentless with it. This guy is going to be a top signing for us and he has started well, but he has got to keep it going. He is very reflective and he is very professional with his approach.”
Benjamin Sesko is ‘helping’ two team-mates
“Benji, at the top end, he’s going to be an amazing player. It’s difficult to be the no.9 at United and I know sometimes that Matheus and Bryan are getting a lot of credit, but the runs that Benji is making is also helping Matheus and Bryan as well.
“All four of them have done really well, the summer signings from last year, they are top professionals.”
Ruben Amorim is ‘more flexible’ than people think…
“We’ve just got to continue to build the spirit, continue to build on Ruben’s idea. Ruben has got a very clear idea. It’s a lot more flexible, the idea, than what people give it credit for. We have got to start with the end in mind and understand the game model, how Manchester United are, it is really important and we have to put the jigsaw pieces together.
“Putting the jigsaw pieces together, we would love to have all of the pieces in place where we can see a very, very clear picture but, whilst we are building and whilst we are building the picture, it is even more difficult when you lose some football matches because people start questioning things. But we are really clear, myself and Ruben, Omar [Berrada], the ownership, we are really clear on the direction of travel and this is really important.”
‘We are custodians’
“All we are doing now is making sure that we make decisions for the football club and not for the benefit, not for the short-term protection of ourselves, we’re making some really bold decisions for the future of Man United.
“Man United is bigger than any player, any manager, any staff member. We are custodians, if you like, and we’ve just got to understand that at some point our journey will end, inevitably.
“We need to make sure that when we leave this football club, whenever that is, and I hope I am here for a long, long time, that this football club is in a much better position.”
