Manchester United need a director of football to ease the pressure on David Moyes claims Damien Comolli

Comolli was in charge of transfer affairs at both Tottenham and Liverpool and he feels someone in a similar position would help both Moyes and new chief executive Ed Woodward in the transfer window

Jack de Menezes
Thursday 05 September 2013 15:30 BST
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Manchester United's Scottish manager David Moyes reacts
Manchester United's Scottish manager David Moyes reacts (Getty Images)

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Former Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli has claimed Manchester United need to hire someone in a similar role to bring more success in the transfer market.

Both manager David Moyes and chief executive Ed Woodward are new to the club this summer, having replaced the retired Sir Alex Ferguson and departed David Gill.

United struggled to bring in players during the transfer window, with the deadline day addition of Marouane Fellaini from Moyes’ former club Everton supported by the arrivals of youngsters Guillermo Varela from Penarol in Uruguay and highly-rated Saidy Janko from FC Zurich.

But they failed with bids for Thiago Alcantara, Cesc Fabregas, Leighton Baines, Ander Herrera and Sami Khedira to name just a few, and their business was made public each time they went after a different target – something that rarely happened under Ferguson’s reign.

Comolli, who was the director of football at Anfield between 2010 and 2012, has claimed that United could do with a similar figure that can focus on bringing new signings to free-up both Moyes and Woodward to do their regular jobs.

"If there's a club who needs a director of football it's United," said Comolli.

"It would ease the process for both individuals."

Comolli was also in charge of transfer business at Tottenham between 2005 and 2008, and he believes that the addition of a director of football at Old Trafford would have eased the considerable pressure on Moyes after taking on the highest profile job in world football.

"David only joined on 1 July which was quite late," added Comolli when speaking to BBC Radio 5 live.

"The issue for Manchester United is that the two most important people at the club in Sir Alex and David Gill left their positions and new people came in for their first transfer window.

"For some reason the club weren't prepared or they didn't think it would be that difficult and they ended up in a difficult situation."

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