Dan Ashworth 'set to raid Chelsea' for first Man Utd signing

Stuart Telford

• 18 Feb 2024 12:09 GMT
• 3 min read

Inbound Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth will raid Chelsea for his first recruit at Old Trafford, according to a report.

United are set to appoint Newcastle's Ashworth as their first ever sporting director once Sir Jim Ratcliffe's minority takeover is completed.

The new INEOS-backed regime have been given 'sporting control' at Old Trafford, and whilst they are expected to overhaul the playing squad, Ashworth's first move will be to strengthen his support team.

And with that in mind, he has identified Chelsea's chief analyst Kyle Macaulay.

"Former Brighton scout Macaulay is on [Ashworth's] wish list," reports The Sun's Alan Nixon. "Ashworth… wants an experienced head of recruitment and will also be looking at increasing his staff, with Macaulay a key appointment.

Macaulay's pedigree

"United have also set up a move for Ipswich technical director Sam Williams to join them and find emerging talent…"

Macaulay is credited with helping build Brighton into a Premier League force, and he followed Graham Potter to Chelsea in September 2022.

Mason Mount subsequently left Chelsea for United and the Red Devils could move for some other Blues players, with the West London club looking to raise around £100m throught player sales next summer to satisfy FFP requirements.

UEFA recently released a report detailing that United's squad last season was the most expensive ever assembled, meanwhile, with €95 million spent on Antony alone. Their return on investment was an EFL Cup and third-place finish in the Premier League.

This season the Red Devils are sixth, and Antony has failed to contributed a direct goal-involvement across his 19 league games.

Antony's Brazil teammate Casemiro is among those who also has his head on the chopping block, with Ratcliffe having criticised his signing when he joined from Real Madrid for €70.7m in the summer of 2022.