The new Manchester United is beginning to take shape on the pitch under the guidance of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos. A clear strategy has been missing in recent years and implementing it will be key to success on the field. Omar Berrada will arrive as general manager in the summer, and talks are ongoing to add Dan Ashworth as athletic director and Jason Wilcox as coach.
Ratcliffe has made it clear what he wants in a senior manager and has made Berrada a top target. The Frenchman’s credentials were perfected after his time at Barcelona followed by a 12-year stint working across the city at City Football Group (CFG). For years, Berrada has been viewed by professional sports organizations as a potential corporate leader. NFL franchises were among those interested.
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Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford are also devilish because getting an influential figure out of their arch-rivals is an even more exciting coup. Berrada is a rarity in football as he is equally respected and loved by those who have worked alongside the man who played a key role in City’s recent transfer talks.
Berrada launched his United plans early and was desperate to create a tight management team that could chart a new path. Ashworth and Wilcox (another with long experience at CFG) held talks with him. Berrada is understood to be looking to appoint a vice president and has spoken to at least one senior figure in football finance about the role.
Newcastle are demanding at least £10 million in compensation for Ashworth and that sum is almost certain to be paid, given the former PE teacher’s contract includes a “garden leave” clause that prevents him from starting at a new club for a calendar year. rise
If Manchester United want Ashworth this spring, or more realistically in the summer, they will have to pay the price. His arrival will almost certainly herald the departure of director of football John Murtough and lead to new appointments in the recruitment department.
Champions League qualification will help summer transfer plans in terms of financial strength and the club’s attractiveness. Ashworth has a track record of signing players with development potential under the age of 25. There is a core of young quality at Old Trafford that he will want to strengthen.
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Ashworth’s fans say he is worth more than £10 million, but Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has never been among his main cheerleaders. Ashworth was never accepted into Howe’s inner circle, although there was no real friction and no mutual respect. The former Norwich apprentice failed to establish the rapport with Howe that he enjoyed with the FA’s Gareth Southgate, West Brom’s Tony Mowbray and Brighton’s Graham Potter, among others.
Although Ashworth enjoys good relations with the Saudi Arabians, who own a majority shareholding in Newcastle, he is understood to be somewhat frustrated that every decision has to be approved in Riyadh, sometimes slowly, sometimes slowly.
The key to Ashworth’s rise to the highest echelons of the game has been his ability to transition seamlessly between the boardroom and the training ground. “I’m comfortable in both suits and tracksuits,” says the UEFA Pro License holder, who made his debut as a training and outreach officer at Peterborough. After being promoted to academy director, Ashworth moved into a similar position at Cambridge before moving to West Brom.
By the time he left the FA for Brighton he had begun to describe his role as a “hub of the wheel”, acting as a vital conduit between departments. It’s a misnomer to see him primarily as some kind of super-talent determiner. Certainly at Newcastle, Howe, whose nephew Andy Howe is chairman, has the final say on transfers, and Ashworth’s role was to manage the final stages of negotiations and ensure deals were completed.
She played a key role in the integration and professionalisation of the women’s team on Tyneside, played a key role in the academy review, was involved in the multimillion-pound refurbishment of Newcastle’s run-down training ground and appointed a head of psychology.
Crucially, Ashworth, whose family home is in Staffordshire, much closer to Manchester than Newcastle, knows better than to run when it would be better to walk and is adept at using excellent communication skills to build trust. I definitely appreciate his approach. “When you’re in a position of power like Dan is, it’s a natural impulse to change everything, to come in with a big ego and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do,'” he said Friday. “The biggest compliment I can give Dan is that he didn’t do that, and that’s very difficult. “It enabled the existing structures to exist and survive, and we still operate the same way.”
The only blemish on Ashworth’s tenure at Newcastle was Sandro Tonali’s 10-month suspension for breaching Italian betting regulations. Ashworth’s key role in completing the Italy midfielder’s £55 million transfer from Milan was the subject of a forensic investigation, which is believed to have concluded it would have been impossible to know about Tonali’s gambling addiction without resorting to illegal surveillance.
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Wilcox will work under Ashworth and be responsible for coaching methodology and player development pathways, while the sporting director will control football operations and lead recruitment. Wilcox was Manchester City’s Under-18 coach before becoming academy director, giving him the opportunity to understand both sides of the coin when it comes to development.
The former Blackburn winger wanted to try his hand at a senior first-team role with a move to Southampton in January 2023, where he helped Russell Martin’s rebuild since relegation from the Premier League began to pay off. Wilcox hails from the north-west and has spent most of his playing career in the region, so the chance to return to Manchester would be a bonus.
The people United targets have the necessary expertise and experience. It will be a huge task to turn the ship around at Old Trafford but the planning has been done clinically. Ratcliffe and his friends just have to hope the execution matches.