Manchester United’s director of scouting Steve Brown is leaving the club as part of wide-ranging changes to the recruitment strategy at Old Trafford.

The number of scouts employed by United will fall significantly as the second redundancy drive of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s reign kicks into action.

Meetings involving human resources are being arranged for next week at Carrington, where those at risk of losing their jobs will be informed.

United have a global army of around 80 scouts and Ratcliffe has made it clear he feels this number is too high. Staffing levels in this area had already been reduced from a couple of years ago when United employed 140 scouts — 50 full-time and 90 part-time.

Brown is the highest-profile member of the department to depart United amid the restructuring.

He informed scouts of his decision in an email, explaining he had declined the offer of an alternative role from technical director Jason Wilcox and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell due to his experience and career timing. Brown thanked his colleagues for their efforts and called United a “special place”. He will continue working until the end of June.

Brown has been at the club since 2016, having been hired by former football director John Murtough after their time working together at Everton.

Brown was a key figure in the launch of Project Bethlehem, the codename for United’s huge recruitment rebuild, and also TrackerMan, the club’s bespoke centralised database of hundreds of players using scouting reports and data.

Brown, regarded as highly professional, was involved in meetings to select transfer targets, especially under Erik ten Hag, and was a regular in the Old Trafford directors’ box.

Critics of TrackerMan said that while the system was extensive and identified talented players, scouting recommendations were not acted on decisively and communication was limited.

Vivell’s arrival as director of recruitment meant a new layer of executive above Brown.

The end of April marks the point at which United need to announce intentions after chief executive Omar Berrada informed staff of a new wave of redundancies on February 24.

It is anticipated up to 200 people will lose their jobs, following on from the 250 cut last summer.

(Michael Regan/Getty Images)