A major breaking from Old Trafford today being Sunday is that Dan Ashworth has left his role as Manchester United’s sporting director after just five months, reports the reliable David Ornstein of The Athletic.
Following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s partial 27.7% investment into United earlier this year, the INEOS billionaire moved quickly in his bid to implement a “best-in-class” footballing structure that would lead the Red Devils into the next era.
As part of this structure, United secured the services of Ashworth as sporting director from Newcastle.
It was not an easy acquisition as the Magpies were adamant they wanted around £20m in compensation to let their executive circumvent his notice period.
United made it clear they would not pay such a hefty amount for non-playing personnel. Eddie Howe’s side responded by placing Ashworth on immediate gardening leave.
At some point, Ashworth threatened to take Newcastle to arbitration in a bid to unlock the tense situation.
However, in July, United finally managed to get their main man. Ashworth played a key role in the summer transfer window, in which the club brought in Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs De Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee in an outlay of around £200million.
Now, Ornstein reveals that Ashworth and United have mutually decided to part ways.
According to The Athletic journalist, “Dan Ashworth has left his role as Manchester United sporting director after just five months.”
