Manchester United have made a move to hire highly rated transfer guru Christopher Vivell to assist with the upcoming transfer window.
Ineos are busy putting together a super-smart team behind the scenes, professionalising Manchester United in a way the Glazers did not care to.
Following the confirmed appointment of Dan Ashworth, Manchester United have moved to strengthen further, adding renowned talent spotter Christopher Vivell.
Vivell brings experience, contacts, and an extra helping hand during a crucial transfer window for the club.
Vivell is the anti-Woodward
Manchester United’s transfer window is made particularly challenging by a limited transfer budget, a consequence of financial restrictions, past expense, and a failure to secure Champions League football.
Even if United wanted to spend their way to improvement, it is not possible. The club need to ‘wheel and deal’ and act smarter than ever in order to get better, and fill all the squad needs.
This is where Christopher Vivell comes in. The former Red Bull man has a proven track record of signing top talent for bargain prices.
We listed his top five signings, as Benjamin Sesko, Karim Adeyemi, Dayot Upamecano, Nicolas Seiwald, and Erling Haaland.
The prices he secured these signings for an early stage of their development is quite staggering, a combined
- Benjamin Sesko: £2 million
- Karim Adeyemi: £6 million
- Dayot Upamecano: £1.5 million
- Nicolas Seiwald: £500,000
- Erling Haaland: £6 million
These five players were signed for a combined value of £16 million. Now, combined, they are worth 20 times that value.
Manchester United are not a ‘developmental’ club in the same sense as Red Bull Salzburg, but this is a club where elite players can develop. Just ask FA Youth Cup winners Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, who have blossomed into FA Cup winners and senior internationals.
For years, under Ed Woodward, Manchester United pursued the biggest names, at the most expensive prices. The project crashed and burned. Multiple times.
Manchester United need to act smart in the market, for financial and strategic reasons. Sir Jim Ratcliffe is on record saying he wants to find the next stars, not pay over the odds for them.
“I’d rather find the next Mbappe than spend a fortune trying to buy success,” Ratcliffe told The Geraint Thomas Cycling Club Podcast. “It’s not that clever, is it, buying Mbappe, in a way?
“Anyone could figure that one out. Much more challenging is to find the next Mbappe or Jude Bellingham or the next Roy Keane.”
Manchester United fans have been crying out for a sensible approach like this, and the know-how to make it happen. Vivell has the ability to make this happen.
Ashworth signed off Vivell move
It is no coincidence Christopher Vivell is set to arrive shortly after Dan Ashworth’s appointment as sporting director was confirmed.
HITC report Dan Ashworth’s first major decision at Manchester United was to green-light the appointment of Vivell.
The German had actually been recommended by former Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick, with Ashworth signing off on the move.
Vivell had even been wanted by Ashworth’s former club Newcastle, and was approached by several European clubs, before committing his short-term future to Manchester United.
Whether there is a long-term role open to Vivell at Old Trafford is up to Ineos. But if he has the super-successful summer at the United which Ratcliffe and co intend, there is every chance he is invited to stay on.