Ashworth, forced out of Manchester United for the first time in five months, is likely to take over as Arsenal's new general manager

Dec 09, 2024

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Dan Ashworth, the sports director who kicked out Manchester United owner Jim Ratcliffe in anger, is likely to find a new job soon. With Edu Gaspar leaving, Arsenal, whose sports director position is empty, is emerging as the likely next destination.

British media TBR Football reported on the 9th (Korean time) 'Since Ashworth's sudden withdrawal from Manchester United, talks about joining Arsenal have been coming out behind closed doors'

Recently, the two clubs representing the EPL, Manchester United and Arsenal, both of which have been vacant as sports directors.

Manchester United replaced Ashworth Sports Director in a surprise move on the 8th. The ostensible reason is the shock defeat against Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2024-2025 season at its home stadium. Manchester United lost 2-3. As a result, Manchester United, which has lost two consecutive league games, fell to 13th place (19 points).

However, if you know what's going on inside, it's the result of the festering wound bursting. Ratcliffe was deeply unhappy with Ashworth Sports Director's administration. Manchester United brought Ashworth with difficulty. It even paid 30 million pounds (about 54.5 billion won) in compensation to Newcastle, its original club, and joined the team last July after waiting for five months.

Ashworth has since worked with former coach Erik ten Hach to actively recruit players. It is estimated that a total of 200 million pounds (about 366.3 billion won) was spent on recruiting Nusair Mazrawi, Matthijs de Ligt, Lenny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkjay.

The problem is that there is no effect of such active recruitment. This is where the owner of Ratcliffe's complaint arose. Coach Ten Hach was eventually dismissed after failing to run the team properly from the beginning of the season and only causing discord.

At this time, Ashworth Sports Director reportedly supported Ten Hach. Ratcliffe was furious. In the end, Ashworth also followed Ten Hach's footsteps and was kicked out five months later.

Shortly after Ashworth came out of Manchester United, rumors are rising that Arsenal will be appointed. Arsenal also resigned in early November from Edu Gaspar, the sports director who has contributed greatly to the formation of the current squad. Edu sports director was a bit different from Ashworth's case. He was highly trusted with Arsenal's performance, but he left in search of a better chance.

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has signed Edou. In addition to Nottingham, Marinakis, a Greek wealthy man, owns Olympiacos in Greece and Hiu Abe in Portugal, which Edu wanted to gain CEO experience at these clubs. He decided to pay three times his salary as Arsenal and left.

TBR풋볼 기사캡쳐

After all, Arsenal are currently vacant as a sports director. Naturally, there is a prospect that Ashworth can go to this position. Although not successful at United, Ashworth has made outstanding performances for Newcastle and Brighton. The Athletic said Ashworth is being mentioned as the best replacement for Edu in many people's view.

There is another reason why this prospect is convincing. Richard Garlick, now a senior Arsenal officer, was a close colleague when Ashworth worked at West Bromwich. Because of this background, Ashworth's trip to Arsenal is gradually gaining traction.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.