It has been revealed that the appointment of Ruben Amorim was the ‘tipping point’ which saw Dan Ashworth leave Man Utd, according to reports.
The Red Devils announced Ashworth’s departure as sporting director on Sunday in a short statement on their official website after a morning of speculation.
A statement read: “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.”
Despite the statement suggesting otherwise, The Athletic insisted that ‘multiple sources, speaking anonymously like others in this story to protect relationships, say United instigated the separation.’
Man Utd have made a terrible start to the new Premier League season and haven’t been helped by the Red Devils spending around £180m on five new signings in the summer.
Josh Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui all arrived at Old Trafford but Man Utd are currently 13th in the Premier League table.
The Red Devils sacked Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman could only win three of Man Utd’s first nine Premier League matches and things haven’t got much better under new boss Amorim.
It cost Man Utd a fortune to sack Ten Hag and hire Amorim and his staff but the Portuguese coach has so far drawn one, won two and lost two of his first five matches in a continuation of their inconsistent form.
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And now talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook insists that the “tipping point” for Ashworth was Amorim’s appointment after hoping for an English coach.
Crook wrote on X: “Understand Ashworth felt sidelined from the big decisions, almost from day one with [CEO, Omar] Berrada and [Sir Dave] Brailsford calling the shots.
“Tipping point was Amorim appointment. He (Ashworth) favoured a British coach i.e. [Gareth] Southgate. Also been told there was a clash of personalities [between Ashworth and Berrada].”
Ratcliffe, who pushed for months for Ashworth to sign in the summer from Newcastle, gave an interview yesterday in which he discussed recruitment.
The Man Utd co-owner told United We Stand: “Manchester United must have the best recruitment in the world. You can’t just flick a light switch and sort out recruitment. It’s all about people and we need to find the right ones.”
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