Ex-Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth to make return to football in top FA role | OneFootball

Former Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth is set to return to football as the FA’s head of elite men's and women's development.

Ashworth left Manchester United in December after just five months at the club, with the club and Ineos having undergone protracted negotiations with Newcastle United in order to hire the 54-year-old.

But Ashworth will soon return to the FA, where he worked between 2012 and 2018, overseeing England's elite men's and women's teams as well as FA education and coaching.

Part of Ashworth’s new role relates to the development of homegrown coaches, while he will also oversee the next stages of the refurbishment of St George's Park, according to the Telegraph. The FA reportedly declined when asked for comment.

England’s youth teams saw plenty of success during Ashworth’s original spell at the FA, with the U17s and U20s becoming world champions in 2017 and the U19s also winning the European Championship in the same year.

It is unknown whether Ashworth’s move to the Football Association will affect the fees paid for his hiring and firing by Manchester United, which was estimated to have cost around £4.1m in total, according to the club.

Ashworth pictured during his time at the FA, in 2018 (Getty)

Originally, United had paid between £2m and £3m to hire Ashworth, who had previously seen success as technical director at Brighton, and he spent several months on gardening leave as Man United and Newcastle negotiated his exit.

But despite being a prominent figure in a summer transfer window in which United spent almost £200m, Ashworth left the club by mutual consent in December after just 159 days.

Speaking to the BBC in March, Ratcliffe said that the club’s management made an “error on our part” with the Ashworth situation, putting his exit down to “a chemistry issue”.

United have not looked to hire a direct replacement for Ashworth yet, with chief executive Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox instead sharing the responsibility.