FORMER [Newcastle United](http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/newcastle) sporting director Dan Ashworth is in talks over a return to the Football Association.
The 54-year-old served as the governing body’s director of elite development between 2012 and 2018 and was credited as one of the driving forces behind the England men’s team reaching the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Reports have suggested he is in discussions over a role overseeing the technical aspects on the men’s and women’s national teams and the next stage of the international set-up’s home at St George’s Park.
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Ashworth left Manchester United in December, just five months after he'd taken up the sporting director role following his prolonged [Newcastle](https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/newcastleunited/) exit.
His work with the FA had raised his profile significantly, and the part he played in Brighton’s rise as their technical director prompted Newcastle’s new Saudi-backed owners to make him their sporting director in 2022.
Manchester United fought hard to lure him across the Pennines and eventually got their man, only to dispense with his services summarily amid the club’s ongoing problems on the pitch and Ratcliffe’s restructuring work off it.
After Ashworth’s departure from Manchester United – his recruitment and untimely exit cost the club £4.1million – co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe described both his appointment in July 2024 and the retention of then manager Erik ten Hag as “errors”.
Ashworth was replaced at Newcastle by Paul Mitchell, who arrived at the club last summer.
The FA has declined to comment on the claims Ashworth could be set to return to the governing body.
Ashworth cut his teeth as a sports administrator at Peterborough and Cambridge before making his name as a shrewd operator as West Brom’s sporting and technical director.