Manchester United’s academy restructuring will have no bearing on the club’s plans to appoint a technical director to help drive recruitment.

United have announced that Nicky Butt has vacated his role as head of the club’s academy in order to take up a newly created position as head of first team development that will see the former England midfielder reporting directly to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Butt will work closely with Solskjaer and his coaching staff to help smooth the transition to the first team for those youngsters considered ready to make the jump, as the likes of Mason Greenwood, Tahith Chong, Angel Gomes and James Garner are now doing.

It will be a hands on coaching and mentoring role that United hope will strength the club’s long-standing success in blooding youth team players into the first XI and his appointment continues the drive to have former players operating in key positions. Butt, in effect, will be providing a final bridge.

Nick Cox will take over from Butt as head of academy, which will involve taking the lead on both the coaching programme and operational matters such as sports science, education and analysis.

Butt’s appointment will not affect United’s plans to bring in a technical director to work within a transfer committee style framework on academy and first team recruitment. Although the indications are that Butt will no have no direct involvement in recruitment, he will form part of the club’s technical board on wider football matters.