Dan Ashworth – Man United’s most important signing this summer

In a transfer window where Manchester United launched a sensational swoop to steal a “generational defender” from under the noses of Real Madrid, or agreed a unique deal to sign Serie A’s Young Player of the Year ahead of AC Milan, it’s perhaps a little surprising that the club’s most important recruit this summer isn’t even a footballer.

Rather, it’s the new executive, Dan Ashworth, who was appointed as United’s sporting director in July.

The Number One Target

Ashworth, 53, was identified early on by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS Sport team as the man they wanted to lead their revolution at Old Trafford following the British billionaire’s confirmation as United’s new co-owner. Ratcliffe’s £1.3 billion acquisition of a 25% stake in his childhood club came attached with the Glazer family delegating full control over the football operation at the club to the INEOS chairman.

His team, led by Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claud Blanc, would oversee this process which first focused on appointing a ‘best-in-class’ executive team at Old Trafford – a style of structure sorely lacking at United over the last decade in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson malaise.

Ashworth, who had enjoyed successful back-to-back spells in an executive role at Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle United, was considered the number one target to be INEOS’ new sporting director.

An approach was made by United for the 54-year-old who subsequently communicated his wish to Newcastle’s owners to accept and relocate to Old Trafford. Their response was a furious one.

United Calling Newcastle’s Bluff

They immediately placed Ashworth on gardening leave and informed their Old Trafford counterparts that it would require an exorbitant level of compensation to release him from his contract. Figures as high as £20 million were reported for Newcastle’s demands – an unprecedented fee for a club executive.

The Magpies, as a comparison, had paid Brighton £2.6 million to secure Ashworth’s services in the exact same scenario, two years prior. Manchester United tax is real it seems, even when hiring off the pitch.

INEOS were prepared to wait, however. They were convinced Ashworth was the outstanding candidate for the role and were willing to call Newcastle’s bluff.

The Tyneside club were in a tricky situation where they were obliged to keep paying Ashworth’s wages without his expertise being in the room. His continued banishment from the club, without contractual release, would also be an ominous sign for any prospective candidates Newcastle may have wanted to target to replace him.

United, acutely aware of a predicament which essentially translated to their Premier League rival holding one of their directors hostage with no discernible gain, were confident Newcastle would eventually compromise, especially with the summer transfer window fast approaching.

And, as has become almost customary in the first six months of INEOS’ rule at Old Trafford, the club’s prediction paid off.

United officially confirmed Ashworth as their new sporting director on July 1, just over two weeks after the summer window opened. Reports indicate the compensation package agreed with Newcastle amounts to a fee in the region of £10 million, with pressure on the Tyneside club from the Premier League’s profits and sustainability rules (PSR) playing a role in the decision.

This price remains a costly one for an executive figure, but it’s half of what United were initially quoted for their number one target. And INEOS have shown they are willing to pay what it takes to sign the ‘best-in-class’ options, on and off the pitch.

Based on the excellent transfer window which unfolded at Old Trafford after Ashworth’s appointment, contrasted by the disastrous one endured at St James’ Park in his absence, it was the best £10 million United have spent this summer.

United’s Summer Window

As explained in greater detail in The Peoples Person‘s assessment of United’s window, the Red Devils have enjoyed their best summer in recent memory. While it was not perfect, as there were limitations beyond the club’s (current) rulers’ control, it was a strong audition for the ‘best-in-class’ executive team INEOS have entrusted with the keys to Old Trafford.

Five signings have arrived for initial fees totalling around £180 million.

Leny Yoro (LOSC Lille), Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna), Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern Munich), Noussair Mazraoui (Bayern Munich) and Manuel Ugarte (Paris Saint-Germain) constitute a comprehensive overhaul of United’s spine, with two central midfielders, a defensive midfielder and a centre forward supplemented by a versatile fullback.

This influx has been balanced by fourteen departures. While some of these players have left on loan or free transfers, and thus the savings made are on the wage bill, the club have agreed permanent exits for eight players, amassing £88 million in the process.

It means the transfer net spend at Old Trafford this summer has been £92 million. By comparison, two summers ago, Ashworth’s predecessor, John Murtough, sanctioned an £86 million move for Brazilian winger Antony. The contrast in value is stark.

Raphael Varane and Willy Kambwala have been replaced by De Ligt and Yoro; Mazraoui has taken Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s place; Scott McTominay left for Italy to allow Ugarte to arrive from France; and Anthony Martial departed to make way for Zirkzee.

Each one of these moves is an obvious upgrade. There’s also a consistency to the value United were able to strike in every deal, as well as an overarching profile (young, hungry, technically gifted) for each target, which speaks to a carefully considered approach by the club’s executives.

None of the departures, outside of McTominay, were key options for manager Erik ten Hag. They were mostly squad options or players with no discernible future at the club. Yet United were able to command the best part of £100 million for a group who would struggle to make the match-day squad, let alone the starting eleven.

It constitutes a very good transfer window at Old Trafford. But when it’s compared to the one which unfolded at St James’ Park, it becomes a very very good one.

Newcastle’s Summer Window 

In Ashworth’s stead, Newcastle appointed Paul Mitchell to become the club’s new sporting director. Mitchell was officially confirmed three days after United announced Ashworth.

Mitchell, 43, is a highly-respected operator within footballing circles. Indeed, it was even reported he was under consideration for a role at Old Trafford as his recruitment skills were well-known to INEOS given both parties’ overlap in France.

However, Mitchell has not occupied a sporting director position before. His roles prior to Newcastle have been solely focused on recruitment, not the connective role a sporting director must fulfil. Ashworth has previously described his role as “sit[ting] in the middle of a wheel and my job is to bring together seven departments, connecting those spokes.”

Ashworth is highly experienced at the heart of the wheel of a Premier League club; Mitchell is not. And United’s transfer window compared to Newcastle evidences this.

The Tyneside club’s major problem entering the summer was one of acute pressure from PSR. They were forced to sell a number of players in the first part of the window to ensure they did not fall foul of regulations, potentially opening them up to a points deduction in a similar manner to Everton and Nottingham Forest last season.

On July 1, the day after the key June 30 deadline for the “cut-off point for compliance with PSR” for Premier League clubs, Newcastle confirmed the departures of Elliott Anderson (Forest) and Yakuba Minteh (Brighton) for £35 million and £30 million respectively. These deals were supplemented by Ashworth’s own departure for £10 million on the same day.

The combined fees enabled Newcastle to abide by PSR limits without having to sell big-name stars like Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon or Alexander Isak. There was disappointment from manager Eddie Howe, however, at being forced to lose two players he had wanted to keep.

There’s a sense of ‘what if?’ in terms of how Newcastle would have dealt with this PSR issue had they had Ashworth at the helm from February until June 30. While there was a certain inevitability about the club’s position necessitating sales, the manner in which United have danced around their own PSR restrictions en route to spending close to £200 million under the 54-year-old’s watch shows what can be achieved.

There is a counterpoint of Newcastle’s financial situation this summer stemming from decisions made during Ashworth’s tenure, but the executive would likely explain how he would have had a plan in place to deal with it, as he did at Old Trafford from July 1 onwards.

The most damning indictment on Newcastle’s transfer window is not in their forced sales at the beginning of the summer, but rather their failed purchases towards the end – the exact area of expertise Mitchell was brought in to excel at.

While Ashworth negotiated deals for De Ligt and Zirkzee – two of the premier options available in central defence and attack across Europe this summer – worth a combined figure of £73.5 million in initial fees, Mitchell launched a club-record approach for Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, worth £70 million in total.

De Ligt and Zirkzee were signed, Guehi was not.

On the final day of the transfer window, Ashworth agreed to pay PSG £42.2 million for Ugarte with a further £8.5 million in add-ons, totalling around £50 million. The French club’s initial asking price for the Uruguayan midfielder had been close to £60 million but a deal had been agreed earlier in the week, after weeks of protracted negotiations.

Mitchell, by comparison, tabled a shock £50 million bid for Anthony Elanga – the United academy graduate currently at Nottingham Forest. There’s an incredulity at that level of money being offered for a player with Elanga’s skillset; particularly when a far more technically gifted and younger option in the same position – Minteh – left the club two months previously.

Regardless, the Midlands club rejected the proposal as it came too late in the window to source a suitable replacement. If Newcastle had made the offer earlier in the week, as United did with Ugarte, it likely would have been accepted.

Ugarte was signed, Elnaga was not.

It’s evident, therefore, how much Newcastle have struggled following Ashworth’s placement on gardening leave in February, and subsequent relocation to Old Trafford in July, while United thrived.

Conclusion 

It’s difficult to pin down exactly which transfer United have agreed this summer is their best.

There’s reasonable arguments for every one of their incoming signings, with Yoro the marquee purchase but Mazraoui the best value for money, while the fees generated for players like Greenwood and McTominay (for very different reasons) were crucial in allowing the club to manage its PSR concerns.

The fact that United were even able to shift Sancho on a permanent deal (an initial loan with an obligation to buy), albeit at a considerable loss with favourable terms for his new club Chelsea, is a testament to Ashworth’s approach given most felt the 24-year-old winger would remain be at Old Trafford after Friday’s 11pm deadline.

There is one consistent to every one of United’s major deals over the past two months, however – Dan Ashworth, the club’s most important signing this summer and likely the best £10 million INEOS will spend.

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