Man Utd played in the Czech Republic on Thursday night and Berrada and Wilcox visited Germany before the game.
Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox made a private business trip to Adidas’ headquarters in Germany this week.
Manchester United played Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday night and Berrada and Wilcox visited Adidas in Herzogenaurach, Germany in the days before the game.
Berrada (CEO) and Wilcox (technical director) are expected to assume Dan Ashworth’s previous responsibilities as sporting director in the short term and their visit to Adidas was their first public outing together since his shock departure, which was confirmed on Sunday morning.
Ineos’ Josh Thompson was also in attendance at Adidas HQ and the visit, which touched upon data analytics, was described by a source as “a general immersion” in their technology.
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United’s trip to Herzogenaurach came shortly after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s critical comments on data analysis at the club but the suggestion the visit was related was rejected by a source.
In a recent interview with United We Stand magazine, a candid Ratcliffe said: “Data analysis… doesn’t really exist here. We’re still in the last century on data analysis here.”
Adidas are United’s biggest commercial partner – their current kit deal is worth €1billion over 10 years – and Berrada and Wilcox visited their headquarters while they were in the region.
The state-of-the-art Adidas HQ is around 120 miles away from where United played Viktoria Plzen in the Czech Republic and discussing sport science, kits and equipment was also on the agenda during their two-day visit.
There had been speculation a data deal with Adidas might have been explored, but it’s understood Adidas will not help the club identify players in the transfer market and that the visit was seen as an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the organisation and United.
It’s likely Ashworth would have attended Adidas HQ with Berrada, Wilcox and Thompson if he was still employed by United but a 41-word statement confirmed his exit on Sunday.
Club sources claimed the decision was made collaboratively “following a period of transition” but it’s thought Ineos instigated the decision to end Ashworth’s contract.
Ashworth served a lengthy period of gardening leave before starting work at United and was expected to usher in a new era at United following Ineos’ investment.
2024-12-13 10:30:00
