It’s been quite a year for Dan Ashworth, who has spent more time on gardening leave than he has in a job at Manchester United.
Newcastle placed the 53-year-old on a period of leave back in February after the director sent ‘secret emails’ agreeing to join the Red Devils, where he officially started work on July 1st after a £5m compensation package was agreed.
However, after just five months of work under Man Utd’s new INEOS owners, Jim Ratcliffe pulled the trigger over the weekend, leaving Ashworth on the lookout for a new job – and it may not take him long to get one.
Ashworth to Arsenal?!
Just 48 hours after his sudden exit at Old Trafford, Ashworth could land another ‘big six’ job as Arsenal are reportedly considering a move for our former director of football.
This comes from ESPN, where senior writer James Olley claims that Ashworth has been added to a list of candidates under consideration at the Emirates as Arsenal look to replace Edu; their former sporting director who resigned last month.
ESPN report that Ashworth’s reputation has taken a hit in some circles due to the nature of his exits at Newcastle and Man Utd, but Arsenal still value his experience and expertise following impressive spells with the FA and at Brighton.
Embarrassing for Man Utd
It would be quite a shock if Ashworth manages to land the big job at Arsenal after making a mess of his brief stint in Manchester, but it’s Jim Ratcliffe’s Man Utd who are the biggest losers here.
Looking back at Jim’s petulant comments earlier this year, it’s quite amusing that they spent months moaning about our “silly” compensation demands and the gardening leave rules – only to bin off the “10/10 sporting director” just five months into the job.
Speaking in February on the Ashworth saga, Ratcliffe said: “I think Dan Ashworth is a 10/10 sporting director – one of the best around. He would be very good for Manchester United. It is understandable that somebody like Dan would see the Manchester United job as a very interesting challenge at this stage of his career.
“Ultimately, you can’t really criticise Dan for looking at maybe the most coveted job in football as a sporting director – particularly with the challenge at Manchester United. What doesn’t make sense is for Dan Ashworth to be sat doing nothing for 18 months. That’s completely stupid.”
“It’s a bit silly, personally. I wont get dragged into that. What I do think is completely absurd is suggesting a man who is really good at his job sits in his garden for one and a half years. We had a very grown up conversation with City about Omar Berrada.”
Fast forward to today and they’ve paid us £5m for five months of work. Ratcliffe may be a successful businessman, but he’s got a lot to learn in the world of football, it seems.