Dan Ashworth’s new job revealed as Sir Jim Ratcliffe announces Man Utd change he never wanted

Dan Ashworth has taken his first role since he was sacked by Manchester United as the club’s sporting director earlier this season.

Manchester United’s new-look regime under INEOS seemed to have major promise with Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox an Omar Berrada running things.

However, the former Brighton and Newcastle executive was sacked in December last year to the surprise of almost everybody. Wilcox has since taken on his duties.

The club have since revealed that hiring Ashworth and parting ways with him five months later cost them £4.1 million – a figure which covers the compensation paid to Newcastle and the payoff the sporting director received when he departed.

It was a situation that led to major criticism of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS. The British billionaire labelled Ashworth as a  “10/10 sporting director” before he joined the club.

Ashworth’s new job revealed after United exit

Since his departure from Old Trafford three months ago, Ashworth has been linked to several jobs, including the sporting director position at Arsenal.

However, it has been revealed by The Times that Ashworth is taking a consultancy role with Warwickshire County Cricket Club as his first role since leaving United.

The report explained that he will be working as a freelance consultant who will advise on a series of matters including high performance, drawing on his experience in football.

Ashworth joined their Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s cricket audit committee in 2021, which involved overseeing elite teams and high-performance structure.

United announce job cuts Ashworth never wanted

Meanwhile, at Old Trafford things haven’t exactly improved since Ashworth’s departure, both on and off the pitch.

United sit 15th in the Premier League table and things do not look like improving immediately under Ruben Amorim.

It has also been announced by the club that around 150-200 more redundancies will be made as part of a “transformation plan” of their corporate structure. This follows on from 250 employees losing their jobs last year.

United have been heavily criticised for this decision, and recent reports from report from The Athletic have explained that within the latest cuts, the football department is expected to be hit.

The report also claimed that Ashworth was reluctant to allow cuts to this department before his departure, and this brought him into dispute with co-owner Ratcliffe.

Read More: Raphaël Varane delivers important advice for INEOS about Manchester United’s transfer strategy

This also follows recent reports which claimed INEOS were unhappy with the setup of the club’s data department.

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