Ryan Giggs has insisted that Manchester United have made an excellent appointment of an individual who he has met on a “number of occasions.”
Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe has ushered in sweeping changes behind the scenes at Old Trafford after becoming co-owner of Manchester United in 2023.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe secured a minority stake in the Premier League club and his Ineos team took control of football operations at Old Trafford.
Ineos’ Jean-Claude Blanc and Sir Dave Brailsford have both emerged as prominent figures at United as part of the Ratcliffe era of the Premier League club.
Omar Berrada also left crosstown rivals Manchester City and arrived at Old Trafford as the new chief executive of United.
Jason Wilcox has taken up the role of technical director at the Red Devils, while Dan Ashworth left Newcastle and was appointed sporting director of United.
Ratcliffe has already made his feelings clear about taking United back to the top of English football and restoring the club’s prestige in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Ineos made a key decision this summer to retain Erik ten Hag as United head coach ahead of the new season, with the Dutchman inking a contract extension.
Giggs talks up key Man Utd figure
Speaking on the Webby & O’Neill YouTube channel, Ryan Giggs was asked for his initial verdict on Dan Ashworth’s arrival at Old Trafford.
Ashworth was a key Ineos target and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s team pushed forward to bring the former Newcastle sporting director to the Premier League club.
The 53-year-old United sporting director was confirmed to his post in July after the Red Devils and Newcastle agreed to an out-of-court settlement for Ashworth.
Giggs admitted that he had crossed paths with Ashworth and waxed lyrical about the former West Brom and Brighton technical director.
“Well, first and foremost, I think it’s a great appointment,” he said.
“I think Dan Ashworth, I’ve met him on a number of occasions, he’s a nice guy. He’s a great guy. But more importantly, or more importantly, for Manchester United and Manchester United fans, he’s very good at his job.
“He’s probably the best so, yeah, I mean, he’ll work closely day to day with Ten Hag.
“I think his job is obviously to fix things in the near future, but also have one eye on the future as well.
“You know, don’t get too hasty about making sure that we try and get things right quickly.
“We have got to, of course, you know, Man United have got to be competing every season. But also have one eye on the future.
“You know, we don’t want to be again like the stadium in five years’ time, and where we made stupid decisions just for the moment rather than one eye in the future, and he’ll do that.”
Giggs talks Ashworth’s work at Man Utd
United have had a busy transfer window this summer, with Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui all arriving at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils have also offloaded several players this summer, including the sales of Donny van de Beek, Mason Greenwood and Willy Kambwala.
Giggs admitted that United’s transfer business under Ashworth has been a welcome sign of the change at Old Trafford under Ratcliffe’s regime.
The United legend continued: “So yeah, again, making sure that we get the recruitment right, where, you know, there will be players who maybe come in, who we might need to give a little bit of time [but as] United fans, as long as we see progression, both with the team and with the individuals.
“We’re, yeah, I think we’re happy to buy that time, as long as we can see a goal and we could see a progression and that we will be competing for a long time, which we’ve always done.
“So, I think it’s a great appointment, you know, I think he’s already done great business in the transfer market, and I think it only gets better.
“I think we have to also be patient that, you know, this ain’t going to be something that’s going to be fixed overnight, but I think he’s made a good start.”
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