Wilcox Out as United Poach Hugo Viana from Manchester City for Director of Football Role
New director, Hugo Viana, worked closely with Amorim at Sporting and fully backs his 3-4-2-1 system.
Manchester United have made a decisive move behind the scenes, sacking sporting director Jason Wilcox after growing frustration over his repeated meddling in first-team affairs. While Wilcox was brought in to modernize structures, his insistence on imposing a preferred tactical identity and recruitment profile increasingly clashed with Ruben Amorim’s vision. Sources inside the club described a breakdown in trust, with mixed messaging filtering down to the squad and undermining a difficult season on the pitch.
INEOS have acted swiftly, appointing Hugo Viana as the new sporting director in a move designed to restore clarity and alignment from top to bottom. Viana arrives with a deep understanding of Amorim’s methods, having worked closely with him at Sporting, where the pair oversaw a coherent model built around youth development, positional intelligence, and long-term squad planning. Crucially, Viana’s role is clearly defined: support the head coach, not override him.
The appointment signals a reset. United believe that full strategic alignment between ownership, sporting director, and head coach is non-negotiable if the club is to stabilize and rebuild. With Viana empowered to shape recruitment, contracts, and pathways in Amorim’s image, the club hopes to end internal friction and return to a unified direction, even if short-term pain is required to get there.
Kevin Paredes (MUN)
S. Sambo (BUR)