Five of the best Dan Ashworth signings ahead of stunning Man Utd move

Dan Ashworth is set to become the sporting director at Manchester United as new minority part-owner Sir Jim Radcliffe sets about his Old Trafford revolution.

Having already signed Omar Berrada as his new CEO, from local rivals Manchester City, the INEOS supremo is quickly leaving his mark on the Red Devils’ administrative makeup.

Ashworth’s signing will excite Manchester United fans as his remit will include transfers. That is one area the club have historically struggled on since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013.

Hundreds of millions of pounds have been wasted on expensive flops and managers such as Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag have been forced to construct squads made up of another manager’s leftovers.

This high-profile capture of Ashworth represents a huge step in the road for United, and fans will expect the recruitment and scouting to pick up immediately.

It’s been a long time since the club had a joined-up player recruitment strategy and this is a huge opportunity for the 20-time English champions to catch up with rivals like City and Liverpool, whose strategies have left them in the dust over the last decade.

Ashworth has been tempted away from Newcastle United, where he helped construct a squad which qualified for the Champions League for the first time in two decades. Among his transfer hits have been Nick Pope, Sven Botman, Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak.

The 52-year-old moved to St. James’ Park from Brighton, where he oversaw plenty of incomings and outgoings, and is credited as the mastermind behind moves for Moises Caicedo, Kaoru Mitoma and more.

He had a long spell at the FA, where he orchestrated big changes to the nation’s underage team structures and before that he earned the plaudits for his work as technical director at West Brom.

With a keen eye for a player, solid recruitment strategies and a focus on youth development, here we rank five of the best Dan Ashworth signings.

CRAIG DAWSON - ROCHDALE TO WEST BROM - 2010 - £400K

One of the less-heralded signings of Ashworth’s West Brom reign but the centre back is a good example of the sporting director’s ability to spot talent at all levels of the game.

He was a young League Two player, for Rochdale, when WBA picked him up for around £400,000 back in 2010.

He has gone on to play nearly 300 Premier League matches for four clubs and recently earned the plaudits for the job he did marking Erling Haaland during Wolves’ Premier League win against Manchester City.

Still going strong at the age of 33, Dawson was named in the Europa League team of the year in 2022 when he shone for West Ham, earning the nickname “Ballon d’Awson”.

“All our signings were done in a similar way during that time,” Ashworth told the Express and Star in 2022.

“We had a small, cupboard-like, room that we called the Shire and we put some satellite boxes in there to record games from all around the world.

“Every day Lee Darnborough (chief analyst) would record 12 games before he went home.

“We put six or seven cinema seats in there and we’d just sit and watch games.

“And then we’d go to Tony (Mowbray, West Brom manager) and say: ‘I think we’ve found one, come and look at this one’. “If he agreed, we would then back it up by going out to watch them.”

WBA cult heroes like Peter Odemwingie, Gareth McAuley, Claudio Yacub and Chris Brunt were all recruited using this method.

ROMELU LUKAKU - CHELSEA TO WEST BROM - 2012 - LOAN

Romelu Lukaku is the best player Dan Ashworth ever signed… according to Ashworth himself.

The Belgian was only 19 when he was recruited on loan from Chelsea ahead of the 2012-13 season and his 17 goals propelled the Baggies to a top-eight Premier League finish.

He has gone on to bigger and better things, with clubs like Manchester United and Inter on his CV, and is the best Belgian goalscorer in history.

Ashworth also reserved praise for Odemwingie, brought in from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2010, and who scored 31 goals in 90 appearances.

“I think as a loan, Lukaku has gone on to have a fantastic career so player-wise probably him,” Ashworth told the Express and Star in 2022 when asked to name his best-ever signing.

“Steve (manager Steve Clarke) was instrumental in getting Romelu Lukaku because of his links at Chelsea. We had driven down to London to pitch to Romelu about him coming to West Brom.

“We put a presentation together because he had two or three other Premier League clubs who were in for him at the time.

“And Rom came to us and scored 17 goals that season and really helped us finish in the top eight.

“Value for money wise, Odemwingie on his day was outstanding. I’d probably say Lukaku as a loan and Odemwingie as a permanent.”

LEANDRO TROSSARD - GENK TO BRIGHTON - 2019 - £15 MILLION

Another Begian, Trossard was by no means a household name when Brighton sprung for his signature in the summer of 2019. The winger had led Genk to the Belgian league title as captain but arrived as a player with plenty to prove in the Premier League.

A relative bargain at £15m, Trossard went on to become Brighton’s shining star in the Premier League before leaving for Arsenal last winter.

It was a shame that his relationship with the club deteriorated so fast as he had begun life excellently under Roberto de Zerbi, and the initial £20m Arsenal paid for him represents another bargain.

The 29-year-old had been linked to a reunion with Ashworth at Newcastle before opting for the Emirates.

In truth a number of Brighton players could appear on this list, not only for their abilities as football players but for the profit they generated for the club.

Chief among them would be Moises Caicedo, who only played 45 league games for the club before leaving for Chelsea in a deal worth over £100m.

KAORU MITOMA - KAWASAKI FRONTALE TO BRIGHTON - 2021 - £2.6 MILLION

An electrifying Japan international winger, Mitoma has been heavily tipped to become the next Seagulls player to move for big money. He was an incredibly cheap signing, at only £2.6m, coming in from Kawasaki Frontale in his homeland, but will command many times more than that figure when he moves.

After spending the first season of his contract on loan with Union SG in Belgium, he adapted well to life in the Premier League. The 26-year-old is a brilliant dribbler and has scored 13 goals across 65 Brighton appearances thus far.

His contract was recently extended, meaning Brighton are assured of a top fee in the event he is sold this summer. Manchester United have already been linked, intriguingly, and a price of around £70m has been quoted in relation to Mitoma.

“He’s one we have tracked for a while, so we are looking forward to seeing how he progresses in the next year and we will be watching him closely during his time in Belgium,” said Ashworth at the time of his arrival.

Incidentally, Alexis Mac Allister has not been included on this list as his signing was finalised before Ashworth had come into the club. While Ashworth was responsible for cutting his loan deal short with Boca Juniors and expediting his arrival at the Amex, the groundwork, the contract and the deal with Argentinos Juniors were all agreed ahead of Ashworth’s arrival.

ALEXANDER ISAK - REAL SOCIEDAD TO NEWCASTLE - 2022 - £63 MILLION

Ashworth was reckoned to have played a key personal role in getting the signing of Alexander Isak over the line in summer 2022. He conducted negotiations with Real Sociedad face to face, getting the Swede for less than his reported €90m release clause.

Reports also suggested that he was successful in finding a compromise with the striker and his entourage over their initial wage demands.

Newcastle still paid a record fee to prise the forward from LaLiga but he has been a massive hit on Tyneside thus far. His 10 league goals shot the Magpies back into the Champions League and that total could have been much higher were it not for a debilitating injury.

He is back on the goal trail this season, having hit another 10 in 17 matches, including strikes against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City.

He is looking well worth the initial £63m Newcastle paid to secure his services.