Manchester United head of academy recruitment Luke Fedorenko to leave club

Manchester United’s head of academy recruitment Luke Fedorenko will leave the club having accepted an offer to work for a major football agency.

Fedorenko, 35, joined United in 2017 as part of Project Bethlehem, an initiative to expand and modernise the club’s recruitment staff after criticism that United’s academy system was underfunded and had fallen behind rivals. He has been a key figure in academy recruitment for nine years and helped shape the club’s youth development.

Post-Brexit, Fedorenko worked extensively to refocus United’s recruitment on local and national talent.

A former youth player at Barnsley, Fedorenko moved to Manchester from Sheffield United to become academy lead scout for players aged 9-11. He became head of local recruitment in 2021 and, two years later, was named head of academy recruitment, a key role at the club given the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) and financial fair play (FFP) regulations, which have made it more more important and attractive for clubs to develop players.

Fedorenko’s impact and what next for United

Several young players have flourished under Fedorenko’s guidance, including striker Chido Obi, who became the youngest ever academy starter and defender Ayden Heaven. Both came from Arsenal, where Fedorenko worked with a London-based United scout, Stephen Ajewole, to attract some of the top young players in the capital.

Fedorenko has also been key in signing highly-rated youth players JJ Gabriel, Bendito Mantato and Jayden Kamason, who became the first player from United’s emerging talent programme to sign a professional contract at the club.

Fedorenko helped build a new recruitment team, and pushed the use of data and video scouting. During his time at the club, academy graduates contributed to over £200million in player sales.

Though the pace of changes has slowed, there have been other behind-the-scenes departures and arrivals at the Carrington training ground this season. Fedorenko had

worked at Sheffield United with academy boss Nick Cox and followed him to Manchester. Cox has recently departed to join Everton as technical director and has been replaced by Steven Torpey, who has arrived at United from Brentford. United did not want Fedorenko to leave, but his departure will give Torpey an opportunity to shape his own leadership team.

Paul Brand, United’s head of performance analysis, told the club that he was leaving in May. He has taken a job at UEFA but had stayed until his replacement, Ben Parker, started today (Monday, October 6). Parker had been working at Southampton.