Man Utd ‘set to appoint former EFL boss and academy product, 48, to surprise role’ in major backroom rethink
MANCHESTER UNITED look geared up to bring old boy Michael Appleton into their new-look backroom staff.
The 48-year-old has been linked with a return to his childhood club after he was sacked by League One side Charlton in January.
Now Old Trafford’s sporting supremo Dan Ashworth is poised to appoint him to the transfer team with responsibility for loans.
Former Tranmere physio and manager Les Parry holds the position but he is set to be replaced, according to The Mail.
Appleton was spotted sitting alongside Ashworth and Old Trafford technical director Jason Wilcox at the start of October.
The trio watched the Under-21s fight out a 1-1 draw with Hertha Berlin in the Premier League International Cup in Salford three weeks ago.
Appleton’s appearance has re-ignited talk that he could be appointed in the near future to oversee United’s young players who go out on loan to other clubs.
The Mail initially reported that Appleton wouldn’t take the job last month, but it appears the lifelong United fan could make a stunning U-turn.
Appleton was appointed as Charlton gaffer last September, eight months after being sacked by Blackpool.
However, he didn’t last very long at The Valley as he was shown the exit door in January.
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The 48-year-old has also previously taken charge of Portsmouth, Preston, Blackburn, Oxford and Lincoln.
Appleton worked with Ashworth at West Brom and is among his proteges.
He was given a chance to come through as a coach at the Hawthorns under his mentor and they have a very close relationship.
It would be his first administrative job but he has a good knowledge of United’s rising stars and the right contacts to find them homes.
Appleton joined the Red Devils as a teenager and earned his first professional contract in 1994 after impressing academy coaches.
He was loaned to Wimbledon and Lincoln the following season to get first-team experience and eventually returned to Old Trafford in 1996 to make his senior debut.
After playing just 90 minutes in total for Man Utd, Appleton moved to Preston North End in 1997.
He then joined West Brom, where he spent the final two years of his career before retiring in 2003 after losing his two-year battle with the injury.