Manchester United set to wait nine months for a new sporting director

Manchester United will wait nine months for Dan Ashworth to start as their new sporting director, despite his initial £20 million demand from Newcastle. The club has a long-standing relationship with Sir Dave Brailsford, who is now United's director of sport. This delay means United will navigate the next two transfer windows without Ashworth, with Brailsford handling transfer dealings and offloading unwanted players.

Manchester United are prepared to wait another nine months for Dan Ashworth to begin his role as their new sporting director. Ashworth, 53, was expected to be one of the first hires under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s new regime in February. However, his current club, Newcastle, refused to release him without compensation and placed him on gardening leave.

Newcastle initially demanded £20 million for Ashworth, who joined them from Brighton in 2022. Ratcliffe deemed this amount “absurd,” prompting the case to go to arbitration for a third-party decision. Ashworth has a longstanding relationship with Sir Dave Brailsford, head of sport at Ratcliffe’s Ineos empire and now United’s director of sport.

United are willing to wait for their top choice, even if Ashworth must remain on gardening leave until March. This delay means United will navigate the next two transfer windows without him. In the interim, they will rely heavily on Brailsford for transfer dealings and offloading unwanted players from Erik ten Hag’s squad. New technical director Jason Wilcox, who joined from Southampton, will focus on his role rather than transfer activities.