Ex-Man U scout hired as director of scouting
Inter Miami CF’s busy offseason continued on Thursday with additions to their soccer operations staff, hiring Mark Prizant as the club’s director of scouting and Sam Gregory as their director of analytics.
Before joining Inter Miami, Prizant had been Manchester United’s New York-based, firstteam scout for more than four years — focusing on recruitment and identifying talent.
He was also the director of talent identification for the Philadelphia Union academy from Nov. 2013 to July 2016 and a U.S. Soccer Development Academy scout from Aug. 2013 to Nov. 2013. Prizant has coaching experience with the Chicago Fire U-23 team and Florida Gulf Coast University’s men’s soccer team.
Gregory was the director of on-field Analytics at York United FC, which plays in the Canadian Premier League, from July 2020 through January before joining Inter Miami.
He led the soccer intelligence team at Sportlogiq, a computer vision-driven sports analytics company based out of Montréal, for almost two years before joining York United and was a data scientist at Opta from 2016 to 2018.
Inter Miami have shaken up their coaching and front office personnel during the offseason, bringing in Phil Neville as the team’s coach and Chris Henderson as the club’s sporting director and chief soccer officer.
David Beckham, Inter Miami’s co-owner and president of soccer operations, has been in South Florida since Christmas and is expected to have a more active role in the club’s operations going forward.
Inter Miami has reportedly been in talks to sign longtime Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross, with Stoke City manager Michael O’Neill saying, “something will happen shortly on that.”
“No real update but I know talks are ongoing between Ryan and the club and the MLS club,” O’Neill said, according to The Sentinel in England. “Ryan has been very keen to explore the opportunity and take the opportunity if it comes to fruition.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the player, personally, as well. But the discussions are not with me, it’s with the club and Ryan and his representatives. We’re optimistic and Ryan’s very keen to see things move forward.”
The Major League Soccer primary transfer window opened Wednesday and closes on May 4. The secondary transfer window will open July 7 and close on Aug. 5.
Those windows are when teams can officially add players who were previously under contract with non-MLS clubs and who need an international transfer certificate. In-season trades between MLS teams also must take place within those windows.
MLS announced the start to the 2021 regular season has been pushed back two weeks, with games expected to start April 17.