Who is Jason Wilcox: Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s next target in a revamped setup at Manchester United. – Man United News And Transfer News

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe has set his eyes on a new Head of Recruitment after finalising a CEO and chasing Dan Ashworth for Sporting Director role.

Southampton’s Jason Wilcox has been reported as a target and for people who know him and his body of work, it’s three out of three for INEOS’ vision.

So, who is Jason Wilcox and what can be expected from him if and when he arrives at Old Trafford? Here’s a brief profile of the “Next man up” on INEOS’ radar who could fix United’s biggest pain point of the last decade, i.e., their recruitment-

Who is Jason Wilcox?

Unlike Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth, Wilcox comes with an extensive playing pedigree at the top level as well. He won the Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers in the 1994/95 season and played for four clubs in a playing career which spanned nearly two decades.

However, like Berrada and Ashworth, Wilcox comes with deep knowledge about operations at a direct rival.

Wilcox spent five years at Manchester City since joining the club in 2012 as an academy coach. Just like Berrada, he worked his way up the ranks. Within a year, he was the Head Coach of the U18s.

It is worth noting that this was the time when City, empowered by the riches of Abu Dhabi, were bringing change en masse to the club.

Wilcox oversaw the development of a new culture at City aimed at being the best in class at that level. He led that team to a league title as well as two FA Youth Cup finals.

So impressive was he and his eye for the development of youngsters that after a five-year stint as Head Coach, he was appointed Academy Director at City.

Today’s City youth academy is as much a source of supplying first-team players as it is a source of cash. The likes of James Trafford and Adarabioyo are thriving elsewhere, while Rico Lewis and Phil Foden are established first-team players.

City’s academy players are a wanted commodity in today’s market and the seeds of that revolution were overseen by Wilcox.

Move away from Manchester City

Like Berrada left City to join United for a higher role, Wilcox was poached by Southampton, with the promise of being Director of Football, a promotion from the Academy Director role he held at City.

He joined the Saints in January last year as Southampton started preparing for eventual relegation and rebuilding of the team.

Under his watchful eye, Southampton went full steam ahead on their strategy of buying youth academy players from “top-six” sides and developing them.

In the summer, he leveraged his Premier League contacts to sign the likes of Shea Charles and Taylor Harwood-Bellis from City and more loan moves from teams like Everton and Newcastle were sanctioned.

They leaned into the Russell Martin project, didn’t flinch when things were not going according to plan, and are now contenders for promotion.

Role at Manchester United

The Peoples Person recently relayed a report that Wilcox is targeted by United as the Head of Recruitment, reporting to Dan Ashworth (or whoever the Sporting Director ends up being). With his eye for a potential superstar, extensive academy coaching expertise, and experience of being in directorship roles, he will bring a fresh perspective to Old Trafford.

Ashworth is regarded as a similarly astute operator and with time, the instances of United splashing the cash on ill-advised deals could reduce.

It also aligns with INEOS’ reported strategy of targeting young and hungry players with a long-term view of squad building.

Too many cooks can spoil the broth but as long as their responsibilities are delineated, as it looks like the case here, then a dream team can be seen as being assembled.