Eva Olid inherits a side in transition. With experienced figures departing and a new emphasis on youth development emerging, can Manchester United’s evolving model keep them competitive at the top end of the WSL?
Manchester United enter the new Women’s Super League looking considerably different after finishing fourth for the first time since the 2021-22 season, but perhaps the most important change isn’t who has left. It’s what the club appears to be trying to become.
The timing of Marc Skinner’s departure only added to the upheaval. After more than five years in charge – and as comfortably the WSL’s longest-serving manager at the time – he left by mutual consent just weeks before the new campaign.
Skinner’s tenure brought progress, delivering Champions League qualification in two seasons and an FA Cup triumph in 2024.
There were signs of a competitive edge last season, too. United were the only side in the WSL to win every match in which they scored first (9/9), while only Tottenham (12) and London City Lionesses (10) recovered more points from losing positions than their eight.
Yet, he rarely escaped scrutiny, with debate around United’s ambitions often extending well beyond the manager himself.
Therefore, any assessment of Skinner’s spell must come with important context. According to the latest published WSL accounts, the Red Devils were operating with a playing budget little more than a third of Chelsea’s and around half that of Arsenal.
That financial reality will not disappear with the arrival of new manager, Eva Olid.
Instead, United appear to be leaning further into a different model: building sustainably, developing young talent and creating a clearer pathway from the academy into the first team.
It is an approach that feels distinctly familiar at the club, but the question now is whether they can make the ‘United way’ work on the women’s side of the club.
A New Manager For a New Model
If United are serious about their new approach, Olid looks well suited to the task.
Olid joins having taken Hearts from the foot of the SWPL to a first league title in 2025-26. Crucially, she achieved that success with the youngest squad in the division.
With an average age of under 24, Hearts showed that Olid could do more than simply hand opportunities to young players; she could build a successful team around them.
Go deeper:
WSLEva Olid Turned Hearts Into Title-Winners – Can She Do the Same at Man Utd?
4 weeks ago Emily CloggThat could prove important at United because, behind many of the established names who have departed this summer, there is already a crop of young talent pushing for greater involvement, despite only five current squad members aged 23 or under featuring in the WSL last season.
Striker Jessica Anderson has already made her WSL debut, while Scarlett Hill returns after spending last season on loan at Sheffield United.
The signing of
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