Darren Hughes: Ex-City man Jason Wilcox set for another reunion at United | OneFootball

INEOS’s first major move at Manchester United was persuading Omar Berrada to leave Manchester City and cross to the other side of the city.

In January 2024, Berrada left his position as chief football operations officer at City Football Group to become United’s chief executive. Since then, the Red Devils have attempted to emulate City’s approach; at the very least, their backroom appointments suggest so.

Soon after, Jason Wilcox left Southampton to reunite with Berrada and help form a new-look sporting structure at Old Trafford. The pair knew each other well from their time at City, where Wilcox was academy director.

Jason Wilcox and his Manchester City connections

Jason Wilcox’s influence at Manchester United has grown rapidly. He joined the club as technical director but later replaced Dan Ashworth as sporting director.

Wilcox has also tapped into his network of contacts at City to fill a variety of crucial roles at United.

Last year, Stephen Torpey succeeded Nick Cox as the club’s head of academy. He spent nine and a half years in different positions at City and worked closely alongside Wilcox.

Recently, United promoted Connor Hunter to the role of head of academy recruitment. Before this development, United tried to lure Paul Midgley from Newcastle United for the same role.

Midgley previously worked at City alongside Wilcox and Torpey. Now, United have made another appointment with links to, you guessed it, the noisy neighbours.

Darren Hughes joins Manchester United

According to Training Ground Guru, who are known for their extensive coverage of key figures working behind the scenes in football, Darren Hughes has been appointed to the new role of Head of Academy Football Development and Methodology at United.

Hughes has spent 12 years at City, where he held a range of roles and was most recently their Head of Coaching.

The report adds: “At United, Hughes will focus on long-term player and coach development, methodology, coaching programmes, competency frameworks and alignment with EPPP. He will report into Academy Director Stephen Torpey, with whom he worked at both City and Liverpool.”

Hughes has been credited with helping the development of players such as Curtis Jones, Jarell Quansah, Oscar Bobb, Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, Nico O’Reilly, Jack and Tyler Fletcher, and Stephen Mfuni.

Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images

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