The Manchester Evening News wrote an article introducing Manchester United's new trend in transfer strategy. Since Inex invested in the club in 2024, the Red Devils have expanded the recruitment scope of youth training players.
Due to Brexit, the English club cannot sign a talented European teenager under the age of 18. Manchester United's youth training recruitment is also limited to the UK, which means the Red Devils must wait until European players are over 18 before taking action. However, at that stage, these players had already been the first to be beaten by other clubs.
But this did not completely stop Manchester United from looking for opportunities in the European market, such as signing former Le Havre player Biyik this summer in a free transfer.
Manchester United has increased its actions outside Europe since Inex invested in the club. In 2024, Manchester United signed Secu Cone from Mali, and introduced Diego Leon from Paraguay this summer, and has reached a preliminary agreement to sign Colombian teenager Orosco.
Orosco currently plays for Fortaleza CEIF Club and has served as the captain of the Colombia U17 team. He helped the team reach this year's South American U17 Championship final. It was in this game that Manchester United discovered Orosco's huge potential and believed that he was expected to enter the first team in the future. However, due to age restrictions, Orosco will not officially join until he turns 18 next year, so he will continue to stay in Fortaleza CEIF until July next year.
Orosco will join Manchester United as a similar identity to Conne: young, needing to be crafted and has great potential. This type of transfer is basically a low-risk, high-return investment for Manchester United. The ideal situation is that the new players successfully enter the first team and gain a foothold in the Premier League. The worst case scenario is that he failed to meet first-team standards but could still sell it on a profitable basis.
Manchester United's strategy against Leon is similar. Manchester United signed Leon for an initial fee of £3.3 million in January, and if additional terms are added, the total fee could reach £7 million. Leon continued to play in Paraguay before the summer transfer before coming to Old Trafford.
Secu Cone was signed by Manchester United from Mali club Guidars FC, with a transfer price of about £1 million. As early as the Indonesian U17 World Cup in November 2023, the Red Devils began to pay attention to Cone, when Mali defeated Argentina and won the third place in the tournament.
Many Manchester United staff watched Conne's performance throughout the whole process. Subsequently, Cone once again became one of the focus players in the U18 International Friendship Game held in Morocco in April 2024. It is believed that it was after this game that Manchester United decided to sign him.
Manchester United is planning for the future and trying to explore further markets more frequently. Other Premier League clubs have made full use of markets outside Europe and have discovered some treasures. Brighton has always been regarded as a benchmark in this area, and their data-driven approach has discovered some talented players.
Manchester United had intended to sign Kesedo in December 2020, but they believed that the £5.5 million asking price of Josen Independent was too high. Just two months later, Brighton signed Kesedo for €28.2 million and sold him to Chelsea for £115 million two and a half years later.
If Cone, Leon or Orosco can develop like Kessetdo, Ineus' decision-makers will be praised. The only downside is that they need time and patience to grow, which is often difficult to obtain at Manchester United.
Wilcox now has a huge influence behind the scenes of the Red Devils, with multiple sources showing that he was already performing his duties before he officially won the title of Manchester United football director.
In February this year, Manchester United officially appointed Vivier as the full-time director of signings. He had previously held this position temporarily and frequently attended youth training competitions.
Matt Hargreaves' role as director of football negotiating is also worthy of attention, he is responsible for transfer and contract matters. Matt Hargreaves' work is highly recognized by the outside world, especially his understanding of players, football business and negotiations. He is also regarded as a very valuable employee within Manchester United.
source:7m cn live scores