Martinez Slams Wilcox Over Man Utd Recruitment — SkimNews
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- Lisandro Martinez, working as a CBS post-match interviewer, broke off four attempts by Peter Schmeichel to steer him away from United's transfer window, telling viewers "I expect more from our technical director" and that the squad "doesn't have" the quality of other top teams
- This is the second time Jason Wilcox has been the figurehead of United's dysfunction — nearly 10 months ago, Ruben Amorim was sacked after publicly objecting that "every department, the scouting department, the sporting director, needs to do theirs," with Wilcox's tactical interference at the heart of the dispute
- BBC Sport was told by dressing room sources that United needed more than the three signings who arrived — Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans, Carlos Baleba — and that the need for a left-back and striker was "fairly obvious"
- Internal sources have questioned United's £155m summer outlay, specifically the £35m Tielemans signing given his similarity to Kobbie Mainoo, and the £50m committed to Santos, who has been an unused substitute in the last three Premier League games
- Despite the criticism, United sources insist Wilcox is not at risk of losing his job and that the recruitment department is already working on January targets to address the flawed decision not to sign left-back competition for Luke Shaw or striker support for Benjamin Sesko
- Manchester United are on a five-match winless run, with Sesko sidelined indefinitely by a recurrence of the shin issue that kept him out of pre-season, while one source with extensive Old Trafford knowledge described the situation as "a mess"
- The crisis lands on Ineos during a wider rough patch across their portfolio — Nice sit 9th in Ligue 1, Lausanne-Sport are bottom in Switzerland — and against United's £1.1bn overall debt and a contested £63.5m land purchase for a planned 100,000-capacity stadium
- Erik ten Hag was sacked after 9 Premier League games in 2024 and Amourm after 20 last season, making this the third successive season in which a United manager backed by the hierarchy has come under immediate pressure
Why it matters: Manchester United are on a five-game winless streak after spending £155m this summer, yet dressing room sources told BBC Sport that obvious gaps at left-back and striker went unfilled. Wilcox was already blamed for contributing to Amorim's dismissal for the same structural failures, and this marks the third consecutive season a hierarchy-backed manager has faced pressure within months — leaving Michael Carrick managing a fractured dressing room while the recruitment department he needs to trust comes under open player attack.
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