Manchester United's recruitment has been very poor in recent years.

It's their failures in the transfer market that has seen them fall well behind their Premier League rivals.

After finishing sixth in the league last season, Man United wanted to go in another direction to try and get back to the top of European football.

The club's plan was to hire a Director of Football to oversee their transfer business.

Names including Rio Ferdinand, Darren Fletcher and Paul Mitchell have all been linked with the role.

And another candidate emerged earlier on Tuesday: Steve Walsh.

Walsh played a big role in Leicester winning the Premier League in 2015/16.

He was responsible for signing Riyad Mahrez, N'Golo Kante and Jamie Vardy for nominal fees.

He then moved on to Everton, but he has not been able to replicate that success. He was sacked last summer after a poor few seasons with the club.

Nevertheless, he remains a respected figure and it appears he has the backing of one of the most powerful men at Manchester United.

According to Sky Sports, Sir Alex Ferguson is urging the club to give Walsh the Director of Football role.

But, there's a problem. Woodward does not agree.

Instead, it is reported that Woodward would rather a former player is given the position.

Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett said: "We understand that Sir Alex Ferguson is urging Manchester United to appoint Steve Walsh to mastermind the changes they’re aiming to make to the structure of the club.

“But it’s thought Ed Woodward doesn’t like the idea.

“He’s much more in favour of bringing in a former Manchester United player for a role that’s going to focus much more on identifying young talent, setting out a long-term plan for the structure.

“So whatever Sir Alex Ferguson is recommending here in terms of Steve Walsh, it looks like Ed Woodward is not going to go for it.

“He would rather see a United old boy coming back to fulfil that role.”

Extraordinary. Woodward, someone with very little experience in football, thinks he knows better than the most successful figure in Manchester United's history.

It'll be interesting to see how this story develops.