Krishnan Sreekumar
Manchester United chief scout Jim Lawlor and head of global scouting Marcel Bout depart the club
According to Manchester Evening News, Manchester United have announced the departures of chief scout Jim Lawlor and head of global scouting Marcel Bout, in what is a significant move for the club ahead of a summer of changes, including bringing in a new permanent manager.
Bout has been at United since 2014, coming in alongside then-head coach Louis van Gaal. Although the Dutch manager left soon after, the scout was retained by former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward due to his niche for younger targets and familiarity with Dutch talent.
A spokesperson for the Red Devils confirmed his exit, saying that Bout is a respected figure within and outside of the club, playing an important part as assistant coach to van Gaal and then going on to strengthen their scouting capabilites.
“Marcel Bout has departed from his role as head of global scouting after eight years with the club. A respected figure within and outside of Manchester United, Marcel has played an important part as an assistant coach and in the strengthening of our scouting capabilities.”
As head of global scouting, he helped van Gaal make 13 signings, one among which is deputy goalkeeper Sergio Romero, who lifted the UEFA Europa League trophy after starting in the final in 2017. Bout is also credited for scouting Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard in person, although neither player made the move to Old Trafford.
Summer of change at Old Trafford
The Manchester side will also be bidding goodbye to chief scout Lawlor in the summer after spending 16 years at the club, working with some of the biggest managers in football – one of which was Sir Alex Ferguson.
The scout made a big impact when he managed to rope in Henrik Larsson on a loan spell from Helsingborgs in 2006 ,and also discovered Javier Hernandez in 2010. However, in recent years, the English side have made some poor calls in terms of recruitment.
The United spokesperson confirmed that Lawlor will step down from his role, playing a key role in the development of multiple trophy-winning teams and played a big part in acting as a source of guidance to Sir Alex Ferguson. Our last league title came under Sir Alex in 2013.
“Jim Lawlor has decided to step down from his role as chief scout in the summer after 16 years with the club. Jim played a key role in the development of multiple trophy-winning teams and was an important source of guidance to Sir Alex Ferguson and each of the managers who followed him.”
There is a summer of change expected at United in the coming months, changing the internal structure of the club as well as roping in a new permanent manager to improve the fortunes of the first team on the pitch. Having gone through a trophy drought of nearly five years, it is encouraging to see the club hierarchy take some big calls to change that stat.
Ralf Rangnick is currently in charge of the senior side on an interim basis until the end of the season, with the German being succeeded by a new man at the helm from next term onwards. The former RB Leipzig manager will then move into a consultancy role with the side for the next two years.
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Although the PL giants have announced the changes in the scouting and recruitment departments, there is no news on whether there will be any replacements, or what the new structure is likely to be. Thus far, we are aware of John Murtough appointed as the football director, Darren Fletcher roped in to become the technical director, and Matt Judge handed the responsibility of being the director of transfer negotiations.
There remains vacancies at Old Trafford with the exits of Lawlor and Bout, and although technical chief scout Mick Court was recommended by Woodward in the past, it is said that he will only oversee a small team in the recruitment department. Another option that the club had was Javier Ribalta, but the former Juventus scout left United after only a year in 2018.
