United try to recruit Southampton's director of football Jason Wilcox

Manchester United have made a formal approach to Southampton's director of football Jason Wilcox, ESPN reported on Monday.

The "Red Devils" have been reshaping their recruitment team since Sir Jim Ratcliffe became the minority owner of the club in February. They already reached an agreement with Omar Berrada, former chief football operations officer of Manchester City, to become their new CEO. Wilcox worked with Berrada at City before leaving in summer 2023.

Southampton, which are currently in the EFL Championship, have agreed to the compensation offered by United. Neither are they happy about the timing because the club is in the middle of a close race for Premier League promotion. They are in fourth place with 74 points after 38 games, 11 points behind No. 3 Leicester City, who have played 39 games.

Southampton lost to the EFL leaders Ipswich 3-2 on Monday. "I would say give me at least 10 minutes to get over the disappointment of tonight and we'll chat at some point this week and I'm sure I'll have more for you," said Southampton's manager Russell Martin after the game. "I've not spoken to the club [about it]. You know my feelings on Jason, and I'll have a chat with him after. I've just had a text saying how proud he was of the performance. The rest is once I'm told I'll let you know."

Before Wilcox, United also tried to recruit Newcastle's director of football Dan Ashworth. However, not only did Newcastle demand a lot more than United expected for compensation, they also put Ashworth on "gardening leave", which means that he is suspended from work but with full pay until further notice.

United are in sixth place on the Premier League table with 48 points after 29 games. They are 11 points behind Aston Villa who are in fourth place.