Jim Ratcliffe and Manchester United are going after Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth as they seek a new sporting director to work above Erik ten Hag, or indeed whichever manager is in charge next season.
Ashworth has apparently agreed terms with United already and told Newcastle that he’s “going”, but the Red Devils still need to prise him away from the Magpies, and he faces a significant period of gardening leave.
With CEO Omar Berrada already committed after defecting from local Premier League rivals Manchester City, Ratcliffe is assembling his new hierarchy at Old Trafford. Even before he’s been appointed, there are suggestions that Ashworth could look to bring in head of recruitment Sam Jewell from former club Brighton to work alongside him.
Wilcox is United’s latest target
Now, another candidate for a behind-the-scenes role has emerged, this time Jason Wilcox at Southampton. The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports that the Saints director of football is aware of the active interest from United.
United are yet to approach the Championship club but they are nonetheless hard at work on a deal for a figure who’s “extremely highly regarded” in Manchester. The plan is for Wilcox to report to Ashworth as part of a revamped set-up.
Wilcox has made an impressive start at Southampton
Like Berrada, Wilcox used to work at Man City, working his way up from manager of the under-18 team, to head of academy coaching and then academy manager. He left the Etihad at the end of last season to take up his role at St Mary’s even as reigning treble winners City made an effort to keep him.
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Wilcox walked into an unenviable situation at Southampton following their relegation from the Premier League, with a raft of high-profile players leaving. However, they have responded well and have a strong chance of immediate promotion, having recently rattled off a 25-game unbeaten run. They’re currently third in the table and have a game in hand on second-place Leeds in the automatic promotion places.
Selected Southampton transfers out (summer 2023) | ||
|---|---|---|
Player | Joined | Fee |
Romeo Lavia | Chelsea | £55m |
Tino Livramento | Newcastle | £33m |
James Ward-Prowse | West Ham | £31m |
Nathan Tella | Bayer Leverkusen | £21m |
Mohammed Salisu | Monaco | £13m |
Intelligent recruitment has played a part in their success. Wilcox looked to former club City to sign Taylor Harwood-Bellis on loan and he’s played 25 games as part of a backline that’s kept nine clean sheets, while Ryan Fraser has chipped in with ten goal contributions since his temporary switch from Newcastle. January loan signings Joe Rothwell and David Brooks and have got off to strong starts after joining from Bournemouth, with the former scoring twice and the latter setting up a couple in his early outings.
The task at United would of course be very different, but decision-makers clearly believe that Wilcox possesses the fundamental skillset needed to thrive at a top-level club too.
