Manchester United appoint Matthew Lee as recruitment lead

Lee is one of several new additions to Marc Skinner's backroom staff

Credit: Getty Images

Manchester United have appointed Matthew Lee as the club’s new recruitment lead after Harvey Bussell departed in the summer.

Bussell, who had been in the head of recruitment role for two and a half years, left to join NWSL side Utah Royals as director of scouting and recruitment.

Lee comes in after spending just under a year at AFC Bournemouth as academy recruitment coordinator ages 11-14. Other previous work includes recruitment scout for Brighton Women and recruitment lead at Portsmouth Women.

Commenting on the new appointment, director of women’s football Matt Johnson told The Cutback: “We are pleased and excited that Matthew Lee has started as recruitment lead. Matt has vast experience in recruitment across the men’s and women’s game. His global market knowledge in women’s football, combined with a demonstrable track record of successful player recruitment at Brighton made him the number one candidate.”

When asked about the new addition to his recruitment team, Marc Skinner said in his pre-match press conference ahead of Manchester United’s game against Aston Villa: “You look at this period here and its recruitment for the winter window, so he [Lee] is coming in to do that.”

Lee’s appointment isn’t the only new addition to the staff behind the scenes at United, the club recently appointed Carlon Carpenter as the new lead analyst for the women’s team.

Carpenter joins from the US where he was working as the head of analysis for Houston Dynamo in MLS. Before that he was the tactical and video analyst for StatsBomb.

It’s been a season of change for United’s backroom staff. Earlier in the season, they appointed Scott Rogers, former assistant at Liverpool, as Skinner’s assistant coach, alongside the addition of a new goalkeeper coach in Joe Potts, and a new performance nutritionist in Hanna Zouggari. All of those roles needed filling after a number of staff departures over the summer.