Manchester United are looking to finalise an appointment which will show how far the club has come.
The sporting director role was not one Manchester United took particularly seriously under Ed Woodward. It took until 2021 to promote John Murtough into a similar role, who now looks set to be replaced.
Gary Neville this past weekend described it as a mixture of ‘negligence’ and ‘madness’ that a club of United’s size had never appointed a figure with experience into a role like this.
But perhaps it could have been worse? Back in 2019, Sky Sports reported Ed Woodward was holding talks with Rio Ferdinand about potentially becoming sporting director.
Rio Ferdinand backs Dan Ashworth
Now with Ineos providing some professionalism to the world’s biggest club, Manchester United have identified a first choice target.
Dan Ashworth has told Newcastle he wants to take the job at Old Trafford, and is now on gardening leave until compensation terms are figured out.
Now, the man that could have had the role many years back, Rio Ferdinand, has backed Ashworth to be a major success.
Ferdinand tells Five: “If I had my choice to take a sporting director it would have been him.
“I think he’s the best. He’s so calm, he’s so sure on what he’s doing. He’s so focused, he’s diligent, he knows the market.
“He’s not swayed, I don’t think he gets bullied by agents, stuff like that. He knows the market value of players.
“He ain’t getting told this player’s worth 50 but for you it’s 75. It ain’t happening, we’ll just move on to other targets then.”
Manchester United need a Plan A, B, C and D
Manchester United have previously gone into transfer windows ill-prepared. It has seen the club become singularly focused on one target, and quite often paying over the odds. See Antony, for instance.
And if that player was not available, see Frenkie de Jong, United would then switch, belatedly, to a different target with a very different playing style – see Casemiro.
Ashworth has comprehensive knowledge and experience in the football market, and will have a plan. He won’t be asked to do it alone either.
Ineos are acting shrewdly and decisively to put together a top class backroom team to help Manchester United get back on track on the pitch. The move for Ashworth shows their talent ID is top level, and managing to pull it off would be a major coup.
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