06 March 2024 , 14:24
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Dougie Freedman could be on his way to Manchester United to become the side’s head of recruitment – and he has some previous history with the club.
Freedman is currently sporting director at Crystal Palace – a role he has held since August 2017. The 49-year-old former striker has developed a stellar reputation for his work at Palace and the club are braced for a formal approach from United, who have identified him as their top choice to head up their new recruitment operation.
United have already appointed Omar Berrada as the new chief executive under the new INEOS set-up and are targeting Freedman, Newcastle ’s Dan Ashworth and Southampton ’s Jason Wilcox for other crucial behind-the-scenes roles. Freedman has strong links to Palace, where he played for eight years as a player and spent a year as manager, and that helped one of the club’s favourite sons during an hour of need.
Wilfried Zaha’s move from Palace to Manchester United in 2013 didn’t go to plan, with the winger making just four appearances for the club before being sold back to Palace. He had a miserable time in Manchester, where his relationship with manager David Moyes was non-existent and he missed south London.
Freedman was able to help, with The Athletic reporting that he invited Zaha around to his house for Christmas dinner in 2013 after hearing of his loneliness up north. Freedman had been manager of Bolton for nearly two years by then, but still thought to look out for Zaha.
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“I saw a completely different side to him,” he later recalled. “A boy who was lost. The support of his family and Crystal Palace made him such a good player. When he went to United, that trust wasn’t there.”
Freedman is an attractive proposition to United in part due to his personality. They believe that he would be open to working underneath Ashworth, who would take up the higher position of sporting director if an agreement can be reached with Newcastle.
Dougie Freedman has been Palace's director of football since 2017 (Amazon Prime)Southampton’s director of football Wilcox is another person United have identified, although the exact role he would take is unclear. INEOS’ head of sport, Sir Dave Brailsford, has completed an internal audit of the club and is now trying to put the pieces in place to improve a department that has struggled to keep up with their rivals in recent years.
As reported by Mirror Football, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is planning to cut up to a quarter of United's staff in a brutal cost-cutting move. Ratcliffe will use consultants to reduce the near-1,200 people currently working for the club, which is considerably more than Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal, who all have fewer than 1,000 on the books.
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