Soccer

Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth departs role after five months

Club statement confirms Ashworth to leave his role “by mutual agreement”

Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth, who has left the club after just five months. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA
Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth, who has left the club after just five months. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA
Sun Dec 08 2024 - 12:42

Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth has left the club after just five months, the club have announced.

Ashworth joined United on July 1st, having been described by part-owner Jim Ratcliffe as “one of the top sporting directors in the world”.

The announcement comes after United dropped to 13th in the Premier League table on Saturday following a 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

A club statement said: “Dan Ashworth will be leaving his role as Sporting Director of Manchester United by mutual agreement.

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“We would like to thank Dan for his work and support during a transitional period for the club and wish him well for the future.”

Ashworth had been part of the decision to hand former manager Erik ten Hag a new contract this summer. However, Ten Hag was sacked in October, with the contract extension adding to a sizeable compensation bill of £10.4 million (€12.5 million).

The club appointed Rúben Amorim as Ten Hag’s replacement, paying his former club Sporting Lisbon €11 million.

Ashworth was also involved in an expensive summer of recruitment, with the combined fees for Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs De Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee costing around £200 million (€241 million).

United spent around five months trying to prise Ashworth out of his previous role at Newcastle, with the 53-year-old going on gardening leave.

Sunday’s announcement comes a day after an interview with Ratcliffe was published of in the United We Stand fanzine, in which the 72-year-old admitted he made “one or two errors” in getting the right people in place at United.

Referring to French club Nice and Swiss side Lausanne, which are also part of Ratcliffe’s Ineos sporting empire, he said: “If I hadn’t done Nice and Lausanne then we wouldn’t have come into United knowing that it’s quite a journey to get to the point where your antenna is working.

“Our antenna wasn’t perfect at United and we’ve made one or two errors, but they’re a lot better than they would have been than if we’d not done Nice and Lausanne.”