Manchester United

Man United announced on Sunday that Ashworth had departed his role as sporting director, just five minutes after arriving.

"Dan Ashworth will be leaving his role as Sporting Director of Manchester United by mutual agreement. 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," read a statement from the club.

Ashworth arrived at Old Trafford at the start of July following a period of gardening leave at former club Newcastle United, but his exit was confirmed after a meeting on Saturday evening.

According to the Manchester Evening News, tensions had been rising behind the scenes, with Ashworth against Amorim's arrival as head coach; the Portuguese was quickly identified as the club's first-choice target to replace Ten Hag, with CEO Omar Berrada said to have driven the approach for the highly-rated Portuguese.

Ashworth 'wanted Southgate as Ten Hag replacement'

The report claims that Ashworth believed that Southgate would have been more suitable, with the former England head coach available following his departure from the Three Lions after Euro 2024.

Ashworth previously worked with Southgate at the Football Association between 2013 and 2018, and he is said to have a close relationship with the 54-year-old.

It is understood that the relationship between Ashworth and the club 'has not been rosy' for 'a few weeks', but it has been stressed that it was a 'mutual decision' for the sporting director to leave.

When are Man United back in action?

Man United will be bidding to bounce back from Saturday's 3-2 home defeat to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League when they head to Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday night.

The Red Devils then have the small matter of the Manchester derby away to Manchester City in the Premier League next weekend, and the club will enter that contest off the back of two league losses to Arsenal and Forest.

Man United are currently down in 13th spot in the Premier League table, with Amorim becoming aware of the size of the job that he has taken on at Old Trafford over the last week.

The former Sporting Lisbon head coach will be given time to turn things around, though, and it could be another painful campaign for the club before signs of real progress are shown.

Written by

Matt Law