The Ineos executive structure is set to undergo another change in the wake of Dan Ashworth’s departure just months after it finally looked settled.
The former Newcastle man left Manchester United after just five months of arrival amid tensions with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and a role that turned out to be different from what he envisioned.
In his place, Omar Berrada took up additional responsibilities, driving the search for Erik ten Hag’s replacement and landing upon Ruben Amorim.
However, as the CEO with more all-encompassing duties, it was always unlikely that he took up this role in its entirety too.
Now, it looks like United have decided upon who will replace Dan Ashworth at the club, albeit in an initial interim capacity.
Man Utd decide Dan Ashworth replacement
Dan Ashworth’s job profile at Man Utd was pretty holistic and had more to do with driving a cultural change and advising Sir Jim Ratcliffe than being in the thick of negotiations.
That is clearly where the dissonance arrived as he would have envisioned a slightly larger role for himself.
His dwindling influence at the club means that it is quite likely that United don’t go for a like-for-like replacement at all, and instead change the working way a little.
As per The Daily Mail, United have sent the staff an email detailing that Dan Ashworth’s responsibilities will be filled in an interim capacity by technical director Jason Wilcox.
He will become the point of contact for the scouting department on matters of recruitment while Christopher Vivell, who could be an Ashworth upgrade, is set for a more prominent role.
Wilcox has been credited with driving Diego Leon’s arrival at Old Trafford and it is clear that Ashworth was left in the cold as Berrada and Wilcox struck a better rapport with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and with each other.
This “promotion”, albeit in an interim capacity, means that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has hedged all his bets on Omar Berrada and his team.
Jason Wilcox will be scrutinised heavily at Man Utd
Omar Berrada will fly under the radar a bit because even though Ashworth has left the club, Berrada’s role at the club will not change.
Wilcox, on the other hand, came as a technical director but his history at Man City with Berrada has helped him align closely with the CEO.
Ashworth was left as the odd man out and now that even the Ineos chief has backed this duo over the departing sporting director, Wilcox will be scrutinised heavily.
He has made all the right noises so far with his drive in the youth recruitment department, with Diego Leon joining a bunch of exciting academy arrivals in the summer.
However, thriving in that role, where he has previously excelled at Southampton and Man City, is much different from overseeing the operations at the senior level and being a culture-setter.
An already tricky job has just been made more interesting due to the dynamics at play which made Ashworth’s future at United untenable.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
