Premier League

Comolli: United need director of football

ESPN staff

September 5, 2013

United's transfer misery

Damien Comolli believes Manchester United should appoint a director of football to avoid a repeat of the mistakes made in the transfer market this summer.

United failed to lure a number of targets to Old Trafford in the summer, with the only acquisitions being Marouane Fellaini, Guillermo Varela and and Saidy Janko.

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The club had pursued a variety of other players -- including Cesc Fabregas, Thiago Alcantara, Daniele De Rossi and Sami Khedira -- while a move for Ander Herrera fell through on deadline day and they failed to secure Fabio Coentrao from Real Madrid after running out of time.

Comolli, a former director of football with Liverpool and Tottenham, believes United manager David Moyes and chief executive Ed Woodward, who came in to replace Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill, needed specialist advice to help sign the players they required.

"If there was a club in need of a director of football to ease the process for both individuals it was Manchester United," Comolli told the BBC Radio 5 Live. "David [Moyes] only joined on July 1, which was quite late.

"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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ESPN staff