17 November 2023 , 09:38
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Atalanta's head of senior recruitment, Lee Congerton, is one of the names being considered by Sir Jim Ratcliffe for a sporting director role at Manchester United.
The Ineos chief, 71, will assume control of sporting operations at Old Trafford once he becomes a minority shareholder, with his £1.3billion proposal for a 25 per cent stake in the club set to be ratified imminently.
Ratcliffe is expected to overhaul the club's off field personnel once he is in situ at his boyhood club; it has already been announced that chief executive Richard Arnold will depart in December, while Ratcliffe also wants to appoint a new sporting director in a bid to overhaul United's current recruitment strategy.
Plenty of names have been touted for the role in recent weeks, but Congerton has now emerged as a new contender, per a report from The Telegraph. The 50-year-old, who previously had spells as a coach with Chelsea and Liverpool, has been in charge of senior recruitment at Atalanta since moving to Italy.
Congerton was influential in bringing Rasmus Hojlund to the Serie A outfit from Austria before he was sold to Manchester United in the summer transfer window. A report from The Athletic back in September outlined that Congerton believed the club should hold out for €100million (£87.5m) for the Denmark international's services - a sum far below the £72m Atalanta eventually banked.
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While Congerton, who has held similar roles at Celtic and Leicester City, is under consideration for a key role in Ratcliffe's new regime, plenty of other names remain in the frame.
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Lee Congerton (second from the left) is being lined up for a role at Manchester United (Ian Horrocks)Crystal Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman emerged as a person of interest earlier this week, while former Monaco transfer guru Paul Mitchell is also on Ratcliffe's radar. Former Liverpool chief Michael Edwards is also admired by Ineos.
The same report outlined on Thursday that Ratcliffe will seek the counsel of Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson before pressing ahead with plans to appoint a sporting director.
Ferguson, whose influence at Old Trafford remains strong after a trophy-laden 26-year stint in the dugout, is known to be a long-term ally of Freedman, which could boost his chances of landing the job. He has overseen several shrewd signings for Palace since moving from management into his current role.