
Manchester United
Premier League • England
Gary Neville blasts ‘weak’ Man Utd after being ‘shocked’ by Dan Ashworth exit

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville
Gary Neville has criticised Manchester United for the way they have handled Dan Ashworth’s surprise exit, which was announced on Sunday morning.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe set his sights on Ashworth as his top target for the sporting director role at Man Utd last December. INEOS eventually agreed a £3million compensation package to land Ashworth from Premier League rivals Newcastle United.
The 53-year-old spent five months on gardening leave before arriving at Old Trafford in July. He played a crucial role in Man Utd signing five players in the summer: Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt.
However, with several of those players struggling, and Erik ten Hag being sacked and replaced by Ruben Amorim, United have decided it is already the right time to move Ashworth on.
United released the following short statement on Ashworth’s exit: ‘Dan Ashworth will be leaving his role as Sporting Director of Manchester United by mutual agreement.
‘We would like to thank Dan for his work and support during a transitional period for the club and wish him well for the future.’
Neville is unhappy with United failing to disclose the reason behind Ashworth’s departure, as it will lead to plenty of speculation about what is going on behind the scenes.
“Something like that can’t be mutual,” Neville said on NBC Sports (via The Independent).
“Dan Ashworth was head-hunted for many, many months. He was paid millions of pounds for, so I’m really shocked that this has happened. It’s not a good look at all and it’s going to need explaining.”
The former United skipper continued: “The statement they’ve put out is really poor. What’s really clear here is there is a fracture.
“Fans are going to be asking the question, what’s gone wrong? They’re going to speculate, it’s going to leave huge voids [of information].
“I think you’re better off just punching us in the face with the truth sometimes. Just tell us, because it’s obvious that something has happened. I think that statement, to be honest with you, is weak.”
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It has been revealed that Ashworth was ‘frozen out’ of the decision-making process at United after being blamed for the poor choice to keep Erik ten Hag over the summer.
Ratcliffe ‘was not happy at all’ with Ashworth’s summer transfer strategy, with Zirkzee, De Ligt and Ugarte all coming in for criticism in the last few months.
Ashworth also fell out with United CEO Omar Berrada. Ashworth wanted to hire a British coach such as Gareth Southgate following Ten Hag’s sacking, but Berrada ignored his wishes and pursued Amorim instead.
It has been reported that Arsenal and Everton are two options for Ashworth now that he is a free agent.
READ MORE: Gary Neville slams Amorim for repeating Ten Hag mistake after Man Utd become a ‘mess’
Man Utd news: Big-name star slammed; midfielder race heats up
Meanwhile, Lisandro Martinez has been criticised after he struggled to contain his Nottingham Forest opponents during United’s 3-2 defeat on Saturday.
Martinez was shrugged off by Nikola Milenkovic for Forest’s early opener. Jamie Redknapp reacted by saying: “Martinez gets bullied, let’s be honest. Milenkovic will be thinking it’s his lucky day. ‘I’m too big, too powerful, too strong for you’.”
Ex-United defender Phil Jones added that Martinez’s body shape was ‘wrong’ and that he must be more ‘aggressive’.
United have been credited with interest in Douglas Luiz, who has struggled at Juventus since joining from Aston Villa in July.
But Amorim’s side will have to fend off competition in order to bring the midfielder back to England.
The Italian media claim West Ham United and Fulham have joined the race to sign Luiz in January.
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