Sheffield United owner Prince Abdullah says Jan van Winckel will have a role at the club in his regime.
He was appointed to the board in December 2017 by the Saudi prince. The Daily Mail reports that was a “key factor” in the relationship breakdown with Kevin McCabe.
This lead to a High Court case determining who will take sole control of the Blades. The judgement ordered McCabe to sell his 50 percent stake to Prince Abdullah for £5m.
McCabe is not a fan of Van Winckel either. According to the Sheffield Star he blocked a proposal to appoint the Belgian to the club’s technical committee. Coaching staff were also said to be unhappy with his presence at Bramall Lane.
But McCabe no longer has any say at the club. And Prince Abdullah told Sky Sports News that Van Winckel will have some responsibility at United:
“He’s one of the best people I know and has a good eye for talent.
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“We will use him in the club, but Chris (Wilder) is the face of the club and his decisions on the first team are the decisions we’ll go with.
“He’s busy with Beerschot and I can’t think he can spend a lot of time in Sheffield, but he’ll be involved.”
Who is Jan van Winckel?
The Telegraph describes Van Winckel as the Blades’ “director of football.” Meanwhile, the Daily Mail says that Prince Abdullah is keen to appoint a “technical director.”
This would suggest that his role at Bramall Lane would be in a recruitment capacity. How this would go down with Wilder remains to be seen.
Van Winckel is also on the board at Beerschot – a second division Belgian side also part-owned by Prince Abdullah – and is a technical director for the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.
He previously worked under current Leeds United head coach, Marcelo Bielsa, at Marseille. In fact, Voetbal Belge reports that when Bielsa took charge at Leeds he asked Van Winckel for a reunion – but was turned down.