Michael Sansoni, who formerly worked as Lewis Hamilton’s performance engineer at Mercedes, has moved to Premier League giants Manchester United. Here, his new approach helped contribute to the transfers of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. Sansoni joined Mercedes in 2014 at the start of the turbo-hybrid era and held a number of roles within the organisation, including senior performance simulation engineer, before being promoted to Hamilton’s trackside performance engineer for the 2023 season.

He spent two years working alongside the seven-time world champion before they parted ways. After leaving the Silver Arrows earlier this year, Sansoni made the switch to the world of Premier League football, joining Manchester United. There, he is shaping the club’s new approach to player recruitment.

“Mike Sansoni has joined as director of data, following 11 years with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team, where he was most recently senior performance engineer and contributed to eight world championship-winning seasons,” Manchester United confirmed.

“Reporting to Omar Berrada, chief executive, Sansoni will be responsible for transforming the club’s capabilities in data and artificial intelligence, drawing on his experience in machine learning and advanced modelling in Formula One.

“He has been tasked with establishing Manchester United as a data-led organisation, embedding predictive and AI-driven decision-making across football and the wider club. To support these objectives, further recruitment is planned into a number of data, software and platform engineering roles in the coming months, as Sansoni builds out his team.”

In a LinkedIn post, Sansoni suggested that, since linking up with the 13-time Premier League champions, his ‘work’ has contributed to the signings of Cunha and Mbeumo. The duo, snapped up from Wolves and Brentford respectively, are manager Ruben Amorim’s marquee additions as he looks to improve on a miserable first season in charge.

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“I’m incredibly proud to have joined Manchester United as Director of Data, reporting into our CEO Omar Berrada,” Sansoni noted. “I’m very lucky to have had not just one, but two dream jobs. After a phenomenal time in Formula One, it’s a privilege to now be part of the biggest club in world football.

“Over the past few months, we’ve already made meaningful progress. With new methodologies starting to take shape and two fantastic signings, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, already reflecting some of that early work.

“I’ve inherited a brilliant team: smart, committed, and hungry to make a difference and together we’re building a world-class data and AI function to power decision-making across football and the wider club. The challenge is great, but so is the opportunity. Thanks to everyone at United who’s made me feel so welcome. It’s an honour to be here.”