United have brought in Michael Cairney as their new head of recruitment. He has already identified a number of targets and put names that Goodwin is looking at. The talent spotter has previously been head of recruitment at Doncaster Rovers and Barnet. Cairney, who has also worked with Dutch side Twente, comes in from a scouting position at Southampton.

He worked for Southampton but also scouted for their Sports Republic group, French side Valenciennes and Goztepe SK, specialising in the Dutch and Portuguese markets. Goodwin admitted he wanted to build up United’s recruitment team on their return to the top flight.