Dan Ashworth’s departure puts an end to Manchester United’s latest farce

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The departure of Dan Ashworth, confirmed on Sunday morning, means United have stripped themselves of the man they headhunted, who Sir Jim Ratcliffe described in February as “one of the top sporting directors in the world”, who only a few weeks ago, along with CEO Omar Berrada, hired new head coach Ruben Amorim. It amounts to a further waste of money by a co-owner who has put up ticket prices, sacked around 250 employees – with the possible exception of the ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson, all almost certainly paid rather less than Ashworth – given Erik ten Hag a new contract only to dispense with the manager several months later and spent around £200m in the transfer window. United’s statement announcing his exit referred to a “transitional period for the club” but Ashworth was supposed to be part of a new structure that would last for years; he was never intended to be an interim sporting director. Rewind to February when Newcastle were reluctant to release him and there was talk they wanted £20m and Ratcliffe said: “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.” Ten months on, the decision is that Ashworth will not be – and presumably has not been – really good at his job at United.