Dan Ashworth’s exit announced just days after 27.7% Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe made alarming admission about “mediocre” Manchester United. – He warned unpopular decisions would be needed to get United back to the top.
On Sunday morning, it emerged that Ashworth, 53, had agreed to his exit in a meeting with CEO Omar Berrada after their Premier League defeat to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford. On Manchester United’s pages, there is a short “thank you for everything” to Dan Ashworth.
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The news comes just months after co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe called Ashworth “one of the best sporting directors in the world” as the INEOS-led team searched for someone to fill the position.
“I have no doubt that he is a very capable person,” Ratcliffe said in February. “He’s interested in Manchester United because it’s the biggest challenge at the biggest club in the world.”
Ratcliffe added: “It would be different at City because you keep a level. There is a significant reconstruction job here. He would be a very good addition.”
Now, just five months after United agreed a compensation fee with Newcastle for Ashworth, it appears that Ratcliffe and his team will be on the lookout for a new sporting director.
Have become very good at making unpopular decisions!
Ratcliffe, meanwhile, has come under fire lately after United raised the members’ ticket price to £66 and removed concession prices for the remainder of this 2024/25 campaign.
Speaking to the United We Stand fanzine ahead of Saturday’s game against Nottingham Forest, Ratcliffe made clear his feelings about the club’s current position in world football.
He also claimed that the club must make “difficult and unpopular decisions” to inspire change.
“Manchester United have become mediocre,” he admitted. “It is meant to be one of the best football clubs in the world. We have to make some difficult and unpopular decisions. If you shy away from the difficult decisions, nothing is going to change.”
Ratcliffe added: “I know we get criticism in the press, but we have to challenge the cost of running this club because what I want to be free for us to do is buy really good footballers, not spend so much of that money on infrastructure.
“We can’t run a business at a loss, that’s where United have been for the last couple of years.”
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