MU announces the appointment of Jason Wilcox, former Manchester City Academy Director, as the new Technical Director at Old Trafford.

“Jason Wilcox joins Manchester United as the Technical Director. The decision is effective immediately. He will work across all technical areas of the football department to bring about the highest performance,” MU’s announcement in April 19.

Before joining MU, Wilcox held the position of Director of Football at Southampton and previously, Director of the Manchester City Academy. As a player, he won the Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers in 1995.

Southampton stated that they had “reached an agreement with the Premier League club on an acceptable compensation fee.” Initially, they rejected MU’s offer, leading to Wilcox’s resignation.

The Athletic revealed that Darren Fletcher would relinquish the position of Technical Director to Wilcox, but he would not lose his job. The former midfielder will continue to play an important role in the leadership team working with the first team, as well as contribute to the development of the academy.

Wilcox joined Man City as a coach for the youth team in 2012. In 2017, he became the Academy Director. He is credited with discovering and developing talents such as Phil Foden, Rico Lewis, and Cole Palmer.

Wilcox is the second senior staff member that billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has brought from English clubs to MU. Earlier this year, Manchester United surprised many by recruiting Omar Berrada, the Chief Operating Officer of Manchester City. Berrada later became the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MU.

In the near future, Newcastle’s Director of Sport, Dan Ashworth, has also agreed to come to Old Trafford to work in a similar role.