Jose Mourinho 'Predicted' Manchester United Plan to Appoint Director of Football

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is said to have predicted the club's decision to appoint its first director of football, with the Red Devils having reportedly long held plans to install a transfer figurehead. 

Tensions among the United hierarchy this summer led to a disjointed transfer window, and Ciaran Kelly of the Manchester Evening News said it's a decision that was "a long time coming" for executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

Kelly also included quotes from Mourinho, who teased someone else taking the club's lead over transfers moving forward, just two days before it emerged an appointment was in the works: "I think football is changing and managers should be called head coaches."

United concluded this summer's transfer window with three signings: Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk, Diogo Dalot from Porto and Lee Grant from Stoke City. The latest arrival, Grant, 35, was announced on July 3, more than one month before the closing date of the window.

That's despite the club's efforts and Mourinho's own desire to add more new faces before summer's end, and his comments after a 4-1 pre-season defeat to Liverpool pointed to a lack of cohesion at the club over transfers, via ESPN UK:

According to The Independent's Miguel Delaney, club icon Edwin van der Sar and AS Roma transfer guru Monchi are both on the shortlist of figures being considered for the director role at Old Trafford. Mourinho has previously been against such an appointment, but it now appears he's softening over the idea.

It's a business decision that the club perhaps should have considered sooner as many of the sport's top clubs make similar moves, and Tom Coast of Sport Witness highlighted the clearing out that's required at Old Trafford:

Kelly's reported that some of Woodward's recent work in his role perhaps hasn't received due attention, such as the move to treble the size of the club's scouting network in Europe, Asia and South America. A club source is quoted and said:

"This goes unseen and is not necessarily about bringing in more and more young players, but making sure that the correct due diligence is carried out before signings are made.

"Ed was instrumental in the drawing up of the restructure of the academy, pulling in ideas from different teams and experiences from other clubs to produce a model that is right for United in the context of the modern game.

"The training ground has had a restructure under Ed and further investments are planned to maintain our position as having the best facilities on offer to youth players, through to first team."

Former Red Devils boss David Moyes recently appeared on Radio 5 Live Sport alongside journalist Simon Stone and discussed the current setup at United and the process in place regarding transfers:

It's clear things could improve. Video emerged after United's pre-season friendly win over Real Madrid on July 31 of Woodward and Mourinho meeting in the post-match tunnel. The Mail On Sunday's Chris Wheeler reported it was the pair's first meeting in 17 days.

A director of football may well help smooth out windows such as the one just passed for United, and it's a move Mourinho predicted wouldn't be far away following their failings of this summer.