Dan Ashworth’s reasons for making two Man United signings show why he had to go
Dan Ashworth has today left his position as sporting director at Manchester United, and it’s starting to perhaps become clear why a change was needed.
Although Ashworth was highly regarded from his time at Newcastle and Brighton, gaining a reputation for his smart recruitment work in the transfer market, he didn’t do too well with his signings for Man Utd this summer.
The Red Devils have endured a nightmare start to the season, with new additions such as Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt looking really poor.
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According to ESPN, Ashworth had a key role in both deals, and the reasons the report gives for why he pursued them perhaps show why the club were right to get rid of him.
It seems Ashworth was unsure about the need to sign De Ligt, but went for it anyway as he wanted to show his backing to previous manager Erik ten Hag, who was keen on the deal.
With Zirkzee, it seems the former Bologna forward was identified by Ashworth’s scouting team based on data analytics, which clearly must be flawed after such a poor showing from the Dutchman so far.
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Ashworth may well be a good director at another club later in his career, but it seems he was not at all right for United and what they needed at this moment in time.
MUFC fans will surely be fuming to hear about his role in the poorly-thought-out Zirkzee and De Ligt deals, which look like being yet more money wasted on under-performing players in this team.
United now need to ensure they find the right director to replace Ashworth, with new manager Ruben Amorim surely likely to struggle unless he has a good setup around him at board level.
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