Man Utd are set to make an important appointment at Old Trafford, with a new head of senior scouting joining the club.
Kyle Macaulay is set to join United.(Image: 2018 Athena Pictures)
Manchester United are set to appoint Kyle Macaulay as their new head of senior scouting, following a four-month search to recruit an employee for the position as part of the club’s transfer strategy overhaul. Macaulay will oversee the senior scouts and report back to Christopher Vivell, who joined United on a temporary basis last year and was appointed permanently as the director of recruitment in February.
Vivell oversees the club’s recruitment network and reports to the director of football, Jason Wilcox. Vivell and Macaulay worked together at Chelsea between 2022 and 2023, with the former serving as technical director at Stamford Bridge and the latter worked as head of scouting.
In the summer, club sources said the search for a new head of senior scouting was part of the ongoing restructuring and modernisation of the scouting network at Old Trafford. Vivell has streamlined the scouting network but has retained ‘significant human scouting and analytical capabilities’, particularly focused on emerging talent, with data support.
Macaulay was available to move to Manchester after leaving West Ham in October. He has followed Graham Potter throughout his career, previously working at Swedish club Ostersunds, Swansea City and Brighton, before following Potter to Chelsea and, more recently, West Ham. He spent six years as Ostersunds’ chief analyst, where he first worked with Potter.
Macaulay worked as chief scout for Swansea and served as Brighton’s head of scouting during a period in which the Seagulls used their data model to sign Moises Caicedo, Kaoru Mitoma, Marc Cucurella and Leandro Trossard. Since Ineos invested in the club, there has been increased activity in markets outside of Europe.
Sekou Kone was signed from Mali in 2024, Diego Leon arrived from Paraguay this summer and United have struck a preliminary agreement to sign Colombian teenager Cristian Orozco. Sir Jim Ratcliffe has invested in United’s data department, notably hiring Michael Sansoni as director of data in the summer. Sansoni was previously the senior performance engineer at the Mercedes F1 team, and he contributed to eight World Championship-winning seasons.
The University of Southampton graduate joined United two months before the official announcement of his appointment, allowing him to be involved in transfers over the summer.