Keith Wyness lifts lid on Dan Ashworth replacement at Man United
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted he doesn’t expect Man United to replace outgoing sporting director Dan Ashworth.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – claimed new boss Ruben Amorim needs support from a “united group” behind the scenes at Old Trafford.
Man United released a two-sentence statement on Sunday (8 December) confirming Ashworth will be leaving his role as sporting director by mutual agreement.
He only officially started his role at Old Trafford on 1 July after a lengthy period of gardening leave at Newcastle while the two clubs settled compensation.
According to Sky Sports (9 December), United executives felt Ashworth “wasn’t as involved as a sporting director should be” and “a lot more passive than the other INEOS hires”.
It was also claimed that CEO Omar Berrada ran point on the hiring of Amorim, who replaced Erik ten Hag in the Old Trafford hot seat last month.
Man United unlikely to replace Ashworth, says Wyness
Wyness told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “The one thing I’ll say is that Amorim seems to be a decent hire.
“He did say one thing which worried me, about the media. He had better get used to it.
“They’ve got to support him properly with cohesion behind the scenes.
“You’ve got to be a united board, with a united group above Amorim to support him properly.
“Will they hire another sporting director? I don’t think they will.
“I think they’ll stick with the group they’ve got. If they do try and introduce someone new into that group, they had better be sure they get it right.”
In other news, United make Dusan Vlahovic move.
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