Top three Sporting Directors who can replace Dan Ashworth at Manchester United

The Red Devils again need to hire a new sporting director

Dan Ashworth left his role at Manchester United after only five months, the Red Devils are once again looking for a new sporting director.

Following Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Nottingham Forest, Ashworth met with new CEO Omar Berrada, and his departure was officially announced on Sunday. After months of negotiations with former employers Newcastle United, United paid between £2 and $3 million ($2.6 and $3.8 million) in compensation to lure him to Old Trafford. He was considered crucial in the effort to return the team to their former position of dominance both on and off the field.

It is not good for the club or INEOS that he quit after doing the job for the same amount of time, considering that he took five months off for gardening while Man United tried to move forward with his appointment.

Join us as we evaluate the early candidates to take Ashworth’s place at Old Trafford:

3. Dougie Freedman

The bookies’ preferred candidate for the position is a man who, in their opinion, has established himself as one of the Premier League’s top sporting directors while working at Crystal Palace. In 2017, the former striker for Scotland and Palace made a comeback to Selhurst Park as sporting director.

Under his leadership, Palace discovered talent in the Championship and provided them a chance to thrive in the top division by signing players like Michael Olise, Marc Guehi, and Eberechi Eze. When Ashworth moved for United in the summer, Newcastle took Freedman into consideration.

2. Julian Ward

After a year at Anfield, the former sporting director of Liverpool left, but he returned last summer as technical director under the ownership of the Fenway Sports Group.

He attended Liverpool to study sports science. Before becoming Liverpool’s technical director, he attended John Moores University and worked as an analyst for Manchester City, Liverpool, and the football organizations of England and Portugal.

1. Ralf Rangnick

During his tenure as interim manager, Rangnick, who is currently the manager of the Austrian national team, famously said that United needed “open heart surgery” to go back to the top table of the world game.

Rangnick’s appointment as United’s sporting director was meant to be the culmination of that, but it never happened. Could now be the perfect time for his return?

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