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Current Newcastle United sporting director, Dan Ashworth, has been pursued by Manchester United to lead their football strategy in the INEOS era.
Since the day INEOS Group, under Sir Jim Ratcliffe, took control of the football operations at United, there have been significant off-field changes. Omar Berrada will be joining the Red Devils from Manchester City as the club's new chief executive this summer. With his appointment, technical director and performance director recruitments are expected to follow as per the Express.
Dan Ashworth was placed on gardening leave by Newcastle United after he expressed his desire to leave the Magpies and join the Red Devils. The summer transfer window marks the beginning of a crucial period for the INEOS Group and their vision does not allow not having a sporting director for the future.
Dan Ashworth's career after his playing days saw him have stints at Peterborough United as the Academy Director and at Cambridge United where he was 'Centre of Excellence' Director. He later joined West Bromwich Albion where he was appointed to assist the youth team manager. Subsequently, he joined the FA, Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle United in that order.
Below, we look at some of Ashworth's most worthy accomplishments and why Manchester United are relentlessly chasing him.
#1 Successful stint at West Bromwich Albion
In 2007, Ashworth was appointed as the sporting director of West Bromwich Albion where he initially joined as part of the coaching set-up. Under Ashworth's guidance and their then-manager Tony Mowbray's leadership, the Baggies were promoted and they re-established themselves in the Premier League.
Ashworth was also responsible for some high-profile sales of players. These included Curtis Davies (selling price: €10 million, market value: €3.5 million), Diomansy Kamara (selling price: €9 million, market value: €3 million), and Jason Koumas (€6.9 million, market value: €2 million). (Data source: Transfermarkt)
#2 'Elite' philosophy
Ashworth's big break came in 2012, when he was appointed as the FA Director of Elite Development, to help develop the "English DNA." This was an elite player development plan whose philosophy was targeted to run through all squads of the national team - from the senior team to all the youth teams.
Thanks to his planning and philosophy, the England national men's U17s and U20s won their respective World Cups in 2017. The U19s became European champions in 2017 and the U21s reached the semi-finals of the European Championship during his tenure.
The majority of the English players from the teams reaching the 2018 FIFA World Cup semi-final and the final of Euro 2020 were also influenced by his philosophy.
#3 Prioritizing lesser-known leagues and identify talents
During his tenure with Brighton starting 2019, Ashworth bought 22 and sold 30 players over six transfer windows with a net spend of £67.7 million as per Analytics FC. He prioritized top prospects in lesser leagues, especially the Austrian Bundesliga and Belgian Pro League, and 14 of the bought players were less than 24 years old.
Moises Caicedo, Leandro Trossard, and Marc Cucurella were brought from Independiente del Valle, Genk, and Getafe respectively. Thanks to their development under Dan Ashworth, they have since been sold to top Premier League clubs for huge fees - €116 million, €24 million, and €65 million respectively, as per Transfermarkt.
Ashworth, along with the board members and Graham Potter built the club together with a long-term outlook. Today, the Seagulls are a formidable Premier League club with a clear philosophy which Roberto De Zerbi is taking forward.
There has been a severe lack of long-term vision, overspending on incoming players and their contracts, and incorrect managerial appointments at the Manchester United for many years now. Hence, Ashworth's appointment is of paramount importance for the Red Devils.
He has always left a positive mark on whichever institution he has been part of. It would be safe to say that he could be a catalyst in the Red Devils going back to their glory days.
