Man Utd hope to appoint ex-Chelsea man on short-term basis to help find new transfer targets in summer window

United are reported by The Athletic to be working on appointing Vivell on an initial short-term basis, further fleshing out the sporting structure rebuild overseen by Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The German's particular skills lie in identifying talent and player recruitment, both of which are key areas at United this summer.

Vivell was Chelsea technical director for seven months between December 2022 and July 2023, but wound up leaving Stamford Bridge when the ownership group fronted by Todd Boehly brought about further reorganisation in the hierarchy. At Old Trafford, he would potentially fit into a developing structure that already has Jason Wilcox in place as technical director, with Dan Ashworth now set to arrive as sporting director and Omar Berrada soon to begin work as chief executive.

From a previous spell at RB Leipzig, Vivell also has expertise in a multi-club model. That is believed to be of interest to Ratcliffe moving forward, with Berrrada having also held a senior executive role in the wider City Football Group before moving across Manchester.

The last few months have been spent assembling a sporting structure intended to make United competitive on the football pitch again. But the summer transfer window will be an important time to inject new energy into a squad that, despite winning the FA Cup, delivered the club's worst finish (eighth) of the Premier League era in 2023-24.