Manchester United want to create an algorithm to help predict injuries for new signings.
United have approached the University of Manchester to see if any students or staff have the skill set to develop an algorithm as part of their data overhaul.
In 2012, United claimed their new medical centre at Carrington had the facilities to predict injuries. Sir Alex Ferguson billed the centre as "a big signing for us and probably the most important step forward we have taken in a long, long time".
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The Toshiba Medical Centre opened at Carrington in March 2014 and figures at United said the facilities predicted that centre backs Phil Jones, Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling would have their most available seasons. Smalling got injured in August while Jones and Evans got injured in September and none of them made more than 30 appearances in 2014-15.
United have spent nearly £2billion on signings in the last 12 years yet only Bruno Fernandes and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are considered out-and-out successes while United have had to contend with innumerable injury crises.
The club recorded 66 separate cases of injury or illness last season while 12 players were unavailable for the 1-0 defeat at Tottenham two weeks ago. Nine senior squad members were sidelined for the draw with Everton last week and the win against Ipswich Town on Wednesday.
United head coach Ruben Amorim confirmed in midweek there is no specific return date for Mason Mount, who joined for a fee rising to £60million from Chelsea in July 2023 and has played in 33 games out of a possible 93.
Luke Shaw, who has not started a match for United in over a year, has made 278 appearances and United have played 595 times since his debut in September 2014. Lisandro Martinez (anterior cruciate ligament) and Amad (ankle) have been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Andre Onana, Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho are the seven players who have been available for every United game this term.
A United source said the club has used extensive data science to manage players' workloads to try and reduce and avoid injuries.
United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe pilloried the club's infrastructure, claiming that data analysis "doesn’t really exist [at United]. We’re still in the last century on data analysis here".
United hired Dominic Jordan as the head of data science in 2022 and former football director John Murtough built a bespoke recruitment database called TrackerMan. Jordan and Murtough both left last year.
Club sources insisted they had the database to identify an attainable signing in the 2023 winter transfer window with "a push of a button".
United last year announced a collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport in January 2024 with a view to driving elite performance.
