Dan Ashworth pictured during his time as Manchester United sporting director
Dan Ashworth pictured during his time as Manchester United sporting director
Joe Cole has blasted departing Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth for the “terrible” business he reckons has put the club back a year.
The 53 year-old has parted company with the Red Devils by mutual agreement, just five months after arriving from Newcastle United. He was responsible for football performance and recruitment at Old Trafford, reporting to new CEO Omar Berrada, who was hired from Manchester City.
Ashworth was seen as a statement appointment by minority owners INEOS and oversaw a £200m summer spending spree. But, after manager Erik ten Hag was sacked just 13 games into the new season after being backed to make those signings, he has now gone, too. United are down in 13th following back-to-back Premier League defeats under new boss Ruben Amorim. But ex-Chelsea and England ace Cole believes the Portuguese's hands are tied after some dodgy recruitment.
He said: “I wouldn’t say this season is a write-off for Manchester United - they could still build some momentum. But they are absolutely going through a rebuild. There are so many players in that Manchester United team that I don’t think can take them where they want to go.”
United splashed £200m on just five players with Lille’s Leny Yoro (£58.9m), Bayern Munich duo Matthijs De Ligt (£42.9m) and Noussair Mazraoui (£17.9m), Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte from PSG (£50m) and Holland striker Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna (£36.5m).
None have yet justified those hefty price tags and Cole said: “I praised the Manchester United staff, who have all come in with stellar reputations. But their first transfer window was terrible – it probably set United back by a year. "They can’t miss in the next transfer windows; they need to get players that can play for this United squad.”
Joshua Zirkzee and Mattihjs de Ligt
Joshua Zirkzee and Mattihjs de Ligt were signed in the summer and have both endured mixed starts to life at Old Trafford ( Image: Getty Images)
However, in an interview with Paddy Power, Cole said he thinks the fallen giants will struggle in January.
He said: “They won’t get the top players – they won’t want to go to Manchester United.
“They need to go underneath that and find the best young players with characters you can develop and become top class. Manchester United are not eating at the top table – that's just a fact.”
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