Manchester United were interested in signing Dan Ashworth for quite a while. However the deal was not advancing due to the Newcastle demands. Sim Jim Ratcliffe was involved in multiple interviews criticising Newcastle for making the deal hard than it had to be. United have finally got their hands on Ashworth and the price is reported to be reduced to half of the originally demanded price by Newcastle. Ratcliffe has started the restructuring of United board and has been praised by fans.
Manchester United welcome Dan Ashworth as the new sporting director
Dan Ashworth signed as sporting director for Newcastle United in 2022. In 2024, he expressed his desire to join United. However, Newcastle were not pleased with his decision and sent him on gardening leave. Later, Newcastle demanded £20 million for Ashworth as a compensation fee. Ratcliffe criticising Newcastle’s demands called this situation completely absurd.
According to The Mirror, United have paid £10 million to Newcastle to get the signature of Ashworth. Both of the Premier League clubs have released a joint statment regarding Ashworth’s departure from Newcastle. Newcastle have thanked Ashworth for his services and wished him a good luck in his future endeavours.
Ashworth will start his job at United with immediate effect. The 53 year old’s first job is to complete the signing of Matthijs De Ligt from Bayern Munich. Bayern no longer need the services of Dutch international and are willing to part ways with him. According to reports the German giants have demanded £51 million for defender and it perfectly fits in United’s budget.
Along with defender, Ashworth will be assigned to sign a midfielder, striker and winger. Casemiro very likely seems to end his United career and so is the case with Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho. Overall there will be crucial changes in the squad before the begining of the next season.
How Ashworth operates
Manchester United’s new sporting director Ashworth has done a great job at both Brighton and Newcastle. He signed some of the top talents from across the world. In 2020, he shared the information about how he operates. Ashworth’s idea is quite amazing and the recruitment process is very smart.
Ashworth spoke about his time with Graham Potter. Graham Potter was Brighton manager at that time. Ashworth said that if he signs a player that Potter doesn’t like, it will be a waste of resources. Hence he likes to avoid it. According to him, its manager who should pick the 11 players that will give me the best chance of winning.
Later he revealed his work process at Brighton. At first Ashworth used to ask Potter about the positions he likes to improve. He said Graham Potter likes to work with the available players before signing new ones. Hence he first looks what they have in the system. However if they don’t have suitable players in the required position in under 23 level or out on loan they move ahead in signing new ones.
Manchester United who currently need filling in lots of positions will get some relief due to this smart process implemented by Ashworth. The transfer market is currently open and will end on 30th August at 11 pm UK time.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe transforming United
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has started the revolution of United board ever since his arrival. The main aim of Ratcliffe is to bring back the glory days to Old Trafford. He has been very busy and has recruited some of the top board members.
Omar Berrada will be United’s new chief executive. Below Berrada there will be new sporting director Dan Ashworth. And below Ashworth there will be new technical director Jason Wilcox. Overall, Ratcliffe has completely changed the structure of Manchester United board.
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