John Murtough spent three years as Manchester United’s football director before leaving last year and has now landed a new job, which has sparked raised eyebrows from Red Devils fans

Manchester United fans have pointed out the irony of John Murtough joining Atalanta, after his role in signing Rasmus Hojlund from the Italian club. Murtough left his post as United’s football director a year ago as new owners Ineos revamped the technical staff.

On Tuesday, Serie A side Atalanta announced he had joined them as their new director of global development. Murtough spent 11 years at Old Trafford, taking on his football director role in March 2021.

In that post, he was effectively in overall charge of the men’s, women’s and academy teams for the Red Devils. He had a mixed spell, with United winning the Carabao Cup in that time, though he faced major backlash over his recruitment strategy.

Part of that strategy was signing Hojlund for £72m from Atalanta in the summer of 2023. The Dane has largely failed to live up to his price tag, scoring just 13 goals in the Premier League since his arrival.

Murtough’s appointment by Atalanta has brought Hojlund’s…