Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid to acquire 25% of the club was ratified by the Premier League earlier this month and just in recent days, it was also given the green light by the FA.
That is significant progress in a saga that has lasted since 2022 and now, Ratcliffe is making moves to shape Manchester United’s football operations.
Last month, it was announced that Omar Berrada was joining the club as CEO following his departure from Manchester City as Head of Football and now, it is being widely reported that Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth is in Ratcliffe’s sights.
Ashworth, previously credited with being one of the main reasons behind Brighton & Hove Albion’s rise, is said to be keen on a move.
Speaking recently, former United captain Gary Neville has explained the thought process behind the moves being made under Ratcliffe, explaining how they are trying to bring ‘excellence’ to the club after several years of employing the wrong people.
“I’m not saying that he’s going to go into Manchester United and be successful but if you’ve got the guy in from City which obviously they have now, you brought Dan Ashworth in, at least you’ve got people in roles that belong. In the last 10 years, there haven’t been people in roles that belong, so there’s a start of something,” Neville told the Stick To Football podcast, via United in Focus.
“Look there’s disruption there’s interference with the mediocrity that we’ve seen in the last 10 years already if he comes in I do think there’s a chance that you know you’ve got that sort of performance mentality that excellence mentality that they do have that could run through the club quite quickly.
“I’ve no doubt no Jim Ratcliffe is obviously trusting in Dave Brailsford, to say look you know basically we need the best CEO the best sporting director the best head of Recruitment and the best coach. The two that have got yet to be sorted are the head of Recruitment and Coach but they’re doing it one by one obviously aren’t they, you know if Dan comes he’ll want I suspect authority at the club to be able to make decisions.”
For the first time in a long time, there is a buzz around what United are doing off the pitch whereas previously, all optimism generated throughout the club has stemmed from on-pitch success or promise.
The potential arrival of Ashworth from Newcastle is widely regarded as a huge step in the right direction but only time will tell whether United pull it off or not.
