Keane raises concerns about inbound Man Utd sporting director Ashworth

Stuart Telford

• 16 Feb 2024 11:57 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United are set to appoint Newcastle's Dan Ashworth as their next sporting director, but club legend Roy Keane has his reservations…

The wheels of change are in motion at Old Trafford, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe's minority investment set to be confirmed early next week.

One of his first appointments looks likely to be that of Ashworth as sporting director, with reports suggesting the Newcastle man is on the cusp of agreeing a deal at Old Trafford.

Ashworth has a long-standing relationship with Sir Dave Brailsford, the Head of Sport at INEOS - the company Ratcliffe is the founder and CEO of.

Ashworth has helped re-build Newcastle into a Premier League force, and has a glistening CV from prior to his move to the North East in 2022, but former United captain Keane has expressed his doubts.

Quick turnaround?

"You're talking about Dan Ashworth coming into Manchester United and being the best for the job, but he doesn't seem to hang around for long," he told the Stick to Football podcast.

"He was at Brighton for a few years, and he's only been at Newcastle for a couple seasons, so you have to look at that too.

"There's no doubt he's brilliant at his job, but who is to say he won't leave in 18 months for Real Madrid or Barcelona?"

Eighteen months might be all Ashworth needs to remedy some of United's recent transfer activity.

UEFA recently released a report that showed that Erik ten Hag's team last season was the most expensive ever assembled, at a cost of €1.422 billion. Among the most expensive players were Antony (€95 million) and Jadon Sancho (€85m) - widely regarded as flops.

Their return on investment last season was a third-place finish in the Premier League and an EFL Cup win, but this year United are sixth in the league, 13 points behind leaders Liverpool.