Mam Utd advertise post for new 'recruitment analyst'

Manchester United are on the lookout for a new 'recruitment analyst' as they bid to get more bang for their buck out of the transfer market.

The vacancy is currently being advertised on the club's official website and calls for candidates boasting a degree in sport science with a preference for a master’s level qualification.

As well as an understanding for the 'technical and tactical demands of football' the job also demands that applicants are able to utilise performance analysis systems, presumably in order to unearth the minute details of a target's abilities using video footage alone.

Needless to say, candidates will also have to commit to 'complete discretion' with regards to their work. Boasting to friends about finding the next diamond in the rough before United have had a chance to sign him will certainly not go down well.

The job is likely to alert a number of the country's most prominent scouts with the chance to influence decisions that could lead to multi-million pound deals an appealing prospect.

It indicates a willingness from the club to improve the efficacy of their dealings in the transfer market. They have spent over £300million on new signings since the arrival of Jose Mourinho in 2016, but have only lost ground to rivals Manchester City and Liverpool.

Mourinho was left dissatisfied with Ed Woodward's unwillingness to spend more this summer and made his feelings clear in public. Mourinho demanded a new world-class centre-back, but Woodward kept the cash in the bank after investing £60m on Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof in the two previous seasons.

That lead to a fracturing of their relationship and back-to-back defeats by Brighton and Tottenham seemingly left Mourinho staring into the abyss of yet another third-season dismissal. A morale-boosting win against Burnley pulled him back from the brink, but he remains under pressure to get the best out of his squad this season.

This new job posting suggests Woodward is not yet committed to more investment but wants to help the scouting department get better at finding value for money. The new recruit will also help plug the gap left by chief scout Javier Ribalt, who departed for Zenit Saint Petersburg in the summer.

Ribalta, who grew his reputation during a five-year stint with Juventus, only spent a year at Old Trafford before moving to Russia in July