isandro Martínez is not naive. At 28, he has experienced plenty in football and knows the causes of success and failure. He has a World Cup winner's medal, whereas Jason Wilcox has overseen the latest period of mediocrity at Manchester United, during which the focus has fallen more on the team's performances than the wider reasons behind it.
Martínez was not solely speaking for himself when, after United's defeat at Atlético Madrid, he strongly criticised Wilcox. His views are shared by others at United frustrated by the output from above and who "expect" more from a director of football. Wilcox knows he is under pressure because the inadequate results cannot all be pinned on Michael Carrick, who is working with a squad unable to cope with the rigours of challenging at the top of the Premier League and facing Europe's elite.
Clubs live and die by their recruitment, and United sitting 13th in the Premier League after one win from six matches does not suggest the squad is in rude health. A sporting director, like a referee, goes unnoticed when performing well but it has reached the point at United where players can take no more.
Three years at Ajax taught Martínez about football structure. The Dutch clubs mix homegrown players with imports from around the world, many of whom are sold on for large profits. Wilcox would struggle to make the case that any of his recruits, with the possible exception of Senne Lammens, have markedly increased in value. There are many sporting directors more adept at finding undervalued talent. Wilcox was offered the chance to sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest a year before the midfielder signed for Manchester City, but decided against moving for a player who continued to grow in value and was eventually out of United's price range. If Sir Jim Ratcliffe is so eager to run United as a business, questioning why the outlay on players leads to so little return would be a sensible starting point.
Wilcox arrived at Old Trafford in April 2024 after less than a year as the director of football in the Championship with Southampton, who gave him his first executive role in senior football. Before that, the former Blackburn and Leeds winger had worked in youth development, eventually becoming Manchester City's academy director, and was well respected, but whether this was sufficient grounding for leading United's football operation was debatable. Wilcox oversaw at City the emergence of a glut of talent, including Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers. Some of those who have dealt with him feel a senior academy position is where his skills lie.
A key reason why he was brought back to his native north-west by United was Omar Berrada's appointment as chief executive. The pair worked together at City and there was a high degree of mutual respect, supported by the – now tainted – achievements of the club. Wilcox was given the title technical director and was supposed to work under the experienced sporting director Dan Ashworth, who held similar roles at Brighton and Newcastle but lasted only five months under Ratcliffe, earning Wilcox a rapid promotion.
Some United staff in place when Wilcox arrived grew frustrated at the number of former City Football Group appointments being made. United had got plenty wrong over the years but continued to thrive in certain aspects, so trying to turn the club into a copy of one of their fiercest rivals grated.
Wilcox was influential in the recruitment of Ruben Amorim, who had a specific way of playing but not the players to carry out his demands. The experiment failed, accelerated by a breakdown in relationship between the head coach and Wilcox, who did not see eye-to-eye on tactics, among other things.
When it comes to players there is increasingly a focus on Premier League experience with Wilcox; this summer Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba arrived from top-flight English clubs for a combined £155m. The midfield did require an overhaul, with Casemiro leaving and Manuel Ugarte, currently injured, never reaching the requisite level. That outlay, however, meant there was no money for a left-back or backup striker, leaving fans eager for an explanation. In the defeat at Atlético, Carrick played the 20-year-old centre-back Ayden Heaven out of position to cover Luke Shaw's latest absence, summing up the shallowness of the squad.
Ratcliffe, the minority owner, is on record as saying he has a lot of time for Wilcox, "When I listen to Jason speak, I get what he's saying," he told the Times in March 2025. "He's a warm character, he's got a sense of humour, he knows what he's talking about." At matches, the pair can be often found sitting next to one another in discussion. Ratcliffe has displayed a ruthless business approach since investing in United, but removing Wilcox would be one of the more difficult personal decisions. Their relationship is strong and making a change would be bold. With finances likely to be tight in January, the planning at this stage is for next summer and who is best to navigate it.
If results continue to be substandard, Ratcliffe and Berrada will be forced to consider their options. Wilcox's bond with the pair is important but Carrick has a lot more credit in the bank with a fanbase that wields power and has strong reservations over the director of football. Removing Wilcox would be the more widely popular decision but also an acceptance of failure from the top brass. Ratcliffe once said Wilcox had the "best eyes in the club" but he cannot be blinded by the truth.