Manchester United have added Atletico Madrid’s chief scout Gerardo Guzman to their staff with a view to securing young talent at an early stage.
Spanish publication AS have confirmed that Manchester United have signed Gerardo Guzman from Atletico Madrid to be a part of their scouting team at Old Trafford. Guzman was the chief scout for Diego Simeone’s men and along with other duties, was mainly tasked with the responsibility of discovering young talent under the age of 23.
Jose Mourinho has slowly gone about adding members to his backroom staff and has reportedly made scouting one of his main priorities at Manchester United, as was the norm under Sir Alex Ferguson too.
AS report that the Portuguese manager believes it to be vital to be ahead of his European rivals in identifying the brightest young talents all around the world. Gerardo Guzman joins the likes of Kieran McKenna, a former player and coach at White Hart Lane, who has been brought in with the aim to aid the development of the young talents at the club.
The 30-year-old, who replaced Paul McGuinness, showed his coaching ability as he led the Spurs U18 team to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup last year and Jose Mourinho would be hoping the former player’s attributes rub off on the academy players.
Mourinho has also brought in Brazilian scout Sandro Orlandelli, who has previous experience of working at a Premier League club, having worked at Arsenal. The Brazilian has an extensive network in his home country as he has been involved in scouting projects at Santos, while also spending some time as Atletico Paranaense’s football director. He is likely to be tasked with the responsibility of scouting talent in the Latin American region.
Meanwhile, Guzman is likely to be entrusted with the responsibility of scouting missions in and around the European region. The transfer of Guzman would have hit Atletico Madrid hard, but the club spent no time in announcing a replacement by hiring San Fernando’s sporting director Natanael Cano ‘Canito’.
It would be interesting to see how these appointments help Manchester United and Jose Mourinho, but the Portuguese manager seems intent on long-term improvement of the squad — something that has not been always been his focus in previous jobs.