Manchester United considering major appointment as Jason Wilcox plans take shape

Manchester United considering major appointment as Jason Wilcox plans take shape

Nick Cox is leaving his position as the head of Man Utd's academy and a replacement from Brentford is under consideration.

Brentford academy director Stephen Torpey. (Image: Brentford FC)

Manchester United are considering the appointment of Stephen Torpey to succeed Nick Cox.

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Torpey is currently the academy director at Brentford and the Manchester Evening News understands the former Manchester City employee is being considered at Carrington.

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United are undertaking an extensive search to find the 'best-in-class' replacement for Cox and have indicated no appointment is imminent. Cox is currently serving a 12-month notice period and United won't rush to settle on his successor in the academy, but sources have admitted a desire to move quickly.

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Last month, it was confirmed that Cox was set to leave the academy after nine years of service to become technical director at Everton. During his time in charge, Cox has played a pivotal role in United's academy's renaissance, securing top youth signings and overseeing an FA Youth Cup triumph in 2021/22.

Torpey was appointed as Brentford's academy director in January 2024. Brentford hired Torpey to essentially build their academy from scratch and deliver Category One academy status, but he is a candidate who could potentially relocate to Manchester after spending just a year-and-a-half in London.

Torpey was previously at City, where he spent nine-and-a-half years in different positions, notably working closely alongside Jason Wilcox, director of football at United.

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Torpey 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 in 2020, a role in which he oversaw trophy wins.

The 43-year-old is credited with helping City implement a Barcelona-style coaching system, which has subsequently enabled the club's youth teams to win trophies with a similar style of football to their first-team.

Torpey played a role in the development of Cole Palmer, James McAtee and Rico Lewis, who progressed through the academy system at City to make senior debuts under Pep Guardiola. He also played a role in player recruitment as part of a team of academy staff who pitched to potential new signings.

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After a modest playing career, Torpey explored a career in coaching and returned to Liverpool. He was welcomed back to Merseyside as a Liverpool academy graduate, and worked in Liverpool's youth system while it underwent a period of change, guided by the Spanish influence of Rafael Benitez.

Speaking in a recent interview with The Times, Torpey said: “When you see players walk out for the first-team and you’ve worked with them from the very earliest ages, they feel like one of your own.

“There’s no better feeling for a fan than to watch one of your own. I think that’s the challenge here: to try and create that same special feeling for our fans when they see one of our local players run out at the Gtech and play in the Premier League and represent the club that they love.”

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