Manchester United in talks to appoint former Man City staff member

Man United are in talks to make another academy appointment, lining up a former Man City employee for a role.

United are in talks to appoint another former City staff member.(Image: 2019 Getty Images)

Manchester United are in talks to appoint former Manchester City staff member Alan Wright.

Wright would join the academy to coach in the Professional Development Phase group, which includes players aged Under-18 to Under-21 who are developing into full-time footballers.

The former Premier League defender spent 10 years coaching City's U16s before taking a job at a sports agency in February 2024.

Wright worked closely with Jason Wilcox, who is now the director of football at Old Trafford, during his time at City, but it's understood Travis Binnion advised Wright for the role.

Binnion is known to supporters as the U21 manager, but his official title in United's academy is head of player development and coaching, which reflects his large responsibility in the youth set-up.

The appointment of Wright has not been finalised, but he is expected to take up the position.

Wright has a UEFA A Licence and played a small part in creating more than £350 million of revenue in sales for City during his time coaching in their academy, which has built a reputation for exporting talent.

Wright played more than 300 games for Aston Villa and also represented Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Cheltenham Town and Fleetwood Town during his career. Binnion played alongside Wright at Sheffield United before being forced to retire early due to injury.

United's academy has received a major shake up in 2024. The Manchester Evening News exclusively reported that Adam Lawrence was set to leave his role as U18 boss in May and were the first to reveal Stephen Torpey was being lined up to succeed Nick Cox as the head of the academy.

Torpey is another former City academy employee. He joined City in 2014 and gradually worked his way up in their academy to become the head of coaching between the Under-15 and Under-23 age groups, a role in which he oversaw trophy wins.

He played a role in the development of Cole Palmer, James McAtee and Rico Lewis, who all progressed through the academy system at City to make senior debuts under Pep Guardiola.

Torpey worked closely with Wilcox during their time together at City. The newly appointed U21 assistant manager, David Horseman, also worked with Wilcox when they were employed by Southampton.

Dave Hughes left his position as U21 assistant to become Newport County manager, which created a vacancy.

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