This does not bode well for the future.
The Times report that Derek Langley, Man United’s head of youth player recruitment, has decided to leave the club at the end of the season because he’s fed up with a decline in standards at Old Trafford.
He has been at the club for 16 years and has been fundamental in the recruitment of a number of youth players who later went on to represent the club at senior level including Adnan Januzaj, Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley.
But he reportedly doesn’t see eye to eye with club secretary John Alexander and David Moyes’ recruit John Murtagh. Chief amongst Langley’s concerns is a worrying drop in funding and emphasis on youth recruitment. As the Times article reads:
“Langley’s frustration is based on the difficulties he has faced in recruitment. Rather than cherry-picking the best young players in the north west of the country, as they were largely able to do during Sir Alex Ferguson’s time at the club, United have increasingly found themselves losing out to City and have been forced to recruit from lower-league clubs.”
Perhaps the most damning comparison between both the Mancunian clubs in the Times article is the following:
“At present, United’s largely part-time staff spend only five and a half hours coaching the under-14 side each week, whereas City’s full-time staff are coaching their charges for four hours each day on top of matches played every weekend.”
City’s under-14 team beat their neighbours 9-0 earlier this season.
