Two Manchester United players have proven Dan Ashworth wrong in his assessment of them before he departed Old Trafford.
Manchester United have changed things around behind-the-scenes since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group took charge.
Many unpopular decisions have been made, while a complete reshuffle of the higher-ups has also taken place, with new faces coming into the club.
Omar Berrada has joined as the chief executive, while Jason Wilcox and Christopher Vivell have taken charge as technical and recruitment directors, respectively.
The club also brought in Dan Ashworth as the sporting director last year after waiting around six months for his gardening period at Newcastle to end.
Ratcliffe described Ashworth as the perfect sporting director but his time at United lasted a matter of months before he was let go by those in charge at Old Trafford.
There was a difference of opinions between the ex-Brighton executive and others in charge – reportedly in terms of managerial targets and player signings.
Ashworth proven wrong about two United stars
It was reported shortly after Ashworth’s exit that Ashworth was against two of United’s summer signings last year. The club brought in five first-team players for around £200 million.
Ashworth had said ‘no’ initially to the signings of Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna and Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich. The English director preferred the option of Jarrad Branthwaite to De Ligt despite the price difference.
Fans were also sceptical of those two signings in the summer, but many have changed their tune across the course of this season.
De Ligt has been one of United’s best performing defenders while Zirkzee had been growing in confidence until his unfortunate injury.
Both players are expected to stay at the club next term after impressing Ruben Amorim across this season.
Amorim backing Zirkzee and De Ligt
It seemed like Ashworth was correct about Zirkzee after his early performances at Old Trafford, and there were suggestions that Amorim would want him sold in the summer.
However, things have turned around for the forward, who is more used to the intensity of the Premier League now, and reports suggest that the United boss now wants to keep him at the club.
Meanwhile, despite some rumours of interest from Inter Milan, De Ligt is extremely likely to be an important player for the club in the coming years.
He has played as the central centre-back and also as one of the wide ones. He looks most comfortable on the right side of the back three.
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While there are no certainties that De Ligt remains in the best eleven for his time at Old Trafford, he offers the kind of leadership that this United squad needs.
Amorim looks to be backing both of the Dutch players, who seem to be proving Ashworth’s initial assessment of them wrong.
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