Dougie Freedman has impressed at Crystal Palace with his eye for talent and diligence with targets watched 20 times… but would he be the right director of football for Manchester United, as, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s revolution begins?

Crystal Palace has always had a magnetic pull on Dougie Freedman. Two spells as a player at Selhurst Park earned him legendary status before he saved them from relegation as manager.

The Scot returned as sporting director in 2017 and has helped cement Palace’s status as a reliable mid-tier Premier League club.

This achievement has not gone unnoticed. Freedman is among the top contenders to become Manchester United’s football director once Sir Jim Ratcliffe completes his £1.3 billion buyout of a 25 percent stake in Old Trafford.

Freedman’s record at Palace has impressed billionaire Ratcliffe and his head of sport, Sir Dave Brailsford, as they draw up plans to transform United’s flagging fortunes on the pitch.

It must be said that the 49-year-old is not the only candidate, with Paul Mitchell, who has held similar roles at Southampton, Tottenham, RB Leipzig and Monaco, also a name in the frame.

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Whoever takes the job faces an unenviable challenge. United have been guilty for years of wasting huge sums of money on players who don’t have the dedication or quality (or both) to help restore the glory days.

The struggles of Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Jadon Sancho at Old Trafford, to name but a few, symbolize United’s decline after Alex Ferguson and the general decline under the watch of their American owners, the Glazer family.

Assuming Ratcliffe gets control of the football side, he will certainly look to inject some more intelligence and dedication into United’s recruitment.

An emphasis on talented, longer-term young players who can develop and retain some resale value would not go amiss, rather than being ripped off for stars who are already on their way down.

That’s exactly what United are attracted to in Freedman: his ability to identify untapped talent has strengthened Palace, while his dedication also praises him.

Before Palace committed £18 million to buy England defender Marc Guehi from Chelsea in 2021, Freedman had him watched 15 to 20 times to get a full picture of his attributes.

This detailed scouting is common at Palace, who cannot rely on the wide network of scouts available to United or other Premier League rivals.

Unwanted by Chelsea, Guehi has developed into one of the Premier League’s best defenders as a regular at Palace, winning seven caps for England.

Other signed gems include Eberechi Eze, now also an England international, who was signed for £17m from Championship club Queens Park Rangers in 2020.

Michael Olise was monitored for some time at Reading before Palace activated his £8.3m release clause in 2021, with the winger now a regular in the Premier League.

Defensive midfielder Cheick Doucoure, signed from French club Lens last year, can be seen as another recruitment success for Freedman and Palace.

When he was appointed, during Roy Hodgson’s first spell, Freedman was tasked with replenishing an aging Palace team.

While Hodgson wanted a core of experienced players, the club decided to adopt a policy of seeking out promising younger players.

Within a few months of Freedman’s arrival, Hodgson was singing his praises for shouldering some of the burden of responsibility at Selhurst Park.

‘He’s doing an excellent job. He does a lot of work with Steve (Parish, the owner) in other areas of the club, which don’t affect or interest me at the moment,” Hodgson told the Croydon Advertiser in November 2017.

‘Both he and Steve Parish have made it absolutely clear that they want to free up as much work as possible around the club – in the commercial department etc – so I feel 100 per cent free to concentrate all my efforts on the football pitch. the team.

“That of course also includes recruitment and that is what Doug and I are working most closely on at the moment.”

That would be an attractive proposition for Ten Hag, who loves nothing more than putting on a tracksuit and delving into the core of tactics and coaching without external distractions.

Of course, the Dutchman would retain control over new signings, but Freedman could manage matters that are not really within the manager’s purview.

There has been debate for years about whether United should appoint a director of football and Ratcliffe clearly believes the time has come.

But Freedman’s track record hasn’t impressed everyone. United legend Rio Ferdinand doesn’t sound too excited at the prospect of him coming in.

“His name comes out of left field. No disrespect, but I don’t remember anyone saying, ‘Wow, look what Palace are doing,’” Ferdinand said on his Atmosphere with Five Youtube Channel.

“Paul Mitchell, I understand, he has a history of doing good things and the same goes for Michael Edwards and Julian Ward at Liverpool.

‘They have a lot of successful work that is recognised, as did Dan Ashworth at England, then at Brighton and now at Newcastle. You can understand that, but no one says that about Palace.

“(Michael) Olise, (Eberechi) Eze and (Marc) Guehi are three players who have been good signings, but for everyone there are others who have not worked.

‘They don’t have a reputation that makes you understand why United would choose him. Dan Ashworth has held these roles before, but John Murtough has worked in roles that weren’t football-based. He helped behind the scenes, but not with football matters.’

But the decision on a football director will be up to Ratcliffe when he takes up the job.