03/09/2026
Wilcox should NEVER have been promoted to Manchester United’s Director of Football in the first place.
Christopher Vivell always had the stronger CV.
A former Leeds player who worked at Manchester City’s academy and had only around nine months of experience as a senior executive at Southampton. And somehow, he was promoted
ahead of Vivell?
You cannot write it.
Vivell had years of experience in scouting, recruitment and squad building across Salzburg, RB Leipzig and Chelsea. He was also part of the recruitment structure that brought an 18-year-old Erling Haaland to Salzburg for around £7-8m, as well as identifying talents such as Dominik Szoboszlai.
Then look at the recruitment differences.
Wilcox was reportedly influential in pursuing players such as Liam Delap, Tyler Dibling and Jarrad Branthwaite, while Vivell reportedly pushed for Benjamin Šeško and Hugo Ekitike.
This summer, names such as Tyler Adams, Sander Berge and Ederson were reportedly linked with Wilcox’s preferences, while Vivell wanted Manu Koné.
There have also been claims that Vivell repeatedly proposed Mamadou Sangaré, although those claims are not strongly sourced, so I wouldn’t treat them as fact.
And then there’s Wilcox’s own admission that he likes getting involved with coaches and that it can create problems.
We saw how that relationship with Ruben Amorim reportedly became complicated.
At some point, you have to look at the person making the decisions.
Wilcox has overseen too many questionable recruitment decisions for this to be ignored.
Manchester United need a Director of Football who understands elite scouting, recruitment and squad building.
In my opinion, Christopher Vivell should have had the job in the first place.
It’s time to seriously question whether Wilcox is the right man to lead United’s football operation.
This has been a disaster class.
