Manchester United appoint Ameesh Manek as Director of Football Operations
Manchester United have added an important piece to their off-pitch team, with Brentford’s chief operating officer Ameesh Manek set to take up a senior role at Old Trafford. The experienced administrator, who previously worked at Arsenal, has agreed to become United’s new director of football operations, replacing David Harrison.
That is as per The Sun. Manek will report directly to director of football Jason Wilcox and will have a broad set of responsibilities. Basically, overseeing team logistics, travel coordination, player support, and day-to-day operations at Carrington. In short, he’ll be one of the key people ensuring that everything around the first teams, both men’s and women’s, runs smoothly.
Though his role at the GTECH Community Stadium mostly remained focused on logistics and operations, his move to Manchester United stands expected to have a stronger footballing emphasis.
Backroom change!
Before moving to Brentford in West London, he spent the better part of five years at Arsenal, where he was the Head of Academy Football Operations first and then transitioned to become the Head of First Team Operations, and only moved to the Bees in 2022.
His arrival at United continues a growing pattern of United targeting staff with Premier League experience and proven track records in well-run clubs. Stephen Torpey, formerly Brentford’s academy director, made a similar switch to United earlier this year.
INEOS has made a conscious effort to shake things up at United in terms of operations and footballing. Even though nothing has been as fruitful as expected, they continue to strive hard to ensure their stamp remains felt across the entire hierarchy of United, which hopefully, helps bring consistent wins on the field too.
His experience at Arsenal and Brentford gives him a strong grounding in organisation and efficiency, but Old Trafford is a different beast altogether.