Manchester United scout who recommended Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt to Ed Woodward ‘removed’ from job

Manchester United scout who recommended Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt to Ed Woodward ‘removed’ from job
Manchester United have allegedly dismissed a scout who advised executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to consider buying Ajax pair Frenkie de Jong and Maathijs de Ligt.Derek Langley, 68, who spent 16 years as the head of youth recruitment at Old Trafford, said he recommended the youngsters to United chiefs before he was ‘removed’ from his job in 2016.3

Langley helped bring Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford to United

De Jong and De Ligt are now two of the hottest prospects in the game and Langley was disappointed the club didn’t take his suggestions more seriously.In an interview with the Manchester Evening News, Langley said:“Players that they turned down? Matthijs de Ligt. We had God knows how many reports on Matthijs de Ligt.“Frenkie de Jong and all these players now are sort of around Europe.“Dayot Upamecano, who is now at Red Bull Leipzig, was another.3

De Ligt on international duty with his native Netherlands

“This was one of the reasons why I had a meeting with Ed Woodward and I told him that I wasn’t convinced with the competency of certain people at the club.“I told Ed Woodward quite straight: ‘If you think I’m going to sit here and just tell you what you want to hear, I’m not that man because I’m going to tell you exactly how I see it.'”Langley went onto say he believes this frank conversation led to him being let go seven months later.He said: “I think it was possibly part of my downfall as to why seven months down the line I was removed because I wouldn’t tow the line in relation to telling them exactly what I thought.3

Langley believes a heated meeting with Woodward has played a huge role in his dismissal

“It’s one of those things in football – you come to accept it. Manchester United thanked me for the time I spent there and the players I’d taken in, but ultimately we could have been so much better if people had listened.”In his time at United, Langley scouted the likes of current players Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard as well as being responsible in signing the likes of Gerard Pique and Danny Welbeck.Since Langley departed, United’s scouting network has trebled in size with more than 58 scouts deployed around the world.But he believes his legacy will live on with the club’s hottest prospect Tahith Chong now coming through the ranks. Langley added: “He had already been tipped by our scouts in Holland and basically I followed him at that tournament and then I followed him all over Europe.“Tahith’s parents would be the first to tell you that his form dipped slightly due to growth issues so at that time I just held fire. I carried on watching him and realised his form was coming back.“He was on the verge of signing for Chelsea and I managed to convince his parents and the boy his future lied at United.”

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