Telegraph: Former Manchester United Director Dan Asheworth will return to the FA, with his position as Operations Director

May 13th According to the Daily Telegraph, former Manchester United director Dan Asheworth will return to the FA.

It is reported that Ashworth will be appointed director of football operations for the FA this week, seven months after he was fired by Manchester United. Sources revealed that Ashworth will soon return to the organization he left in 2018. The FA is very happy with his return and looks forward to his role in ensuring the success of national teams at all levels in England.

According to Old Trafford sources, Manchester United has agreed to get him to work at the FA based on the terms of Ashworth's resignation. Ashworth, 54, will lead the FA decision-making and work with CEO Mark Bringham to take full control of football. Ashworth’s first challenge will be overseeing the “St. George’s Park 2.0 Project,” which will completely renovate the facility. In addition, he will also be responsible for the men's and women's adult teams and youth teams, and will focus on coaching development. The FA hopes to provide more development opportunities for domestic coaches, especially in the context of the lack of suitable British candidates when Tuchel was appointed as head coach of the national team last year.

Technical Director John McDermott will continue to hold his current position, but will report to Ashworth, as will women's technical director Kai Cosington. Although his experience at Old Trafford was not going well, Ashworth's reputation in football remains high. During his previous FA, England won two world titles (U17 and U20 in 2017) and won the European Under19 Championship in the same year. In his final year of his tenure, England reached the World Cup semi-finals. Southgate's team then entered the European Championship finals twice, thanks to Ashworth's reformed youth training system in England.

Ashworth has served as the sporting director of Brighton and Newcastle after leaving the FA. At Newcastle, he helped the team approach the two consecutive years of qualifying for the Champions League, ending a 70-year wait and winning the League Cup. However, he left Newcastle after negotiating to join Manchester United and was eventually arranged to take a leave at the end of 2023.

In July 2024, after Manchester United reached a compensation agreement with Newcastle, Ashworth officially joined Manchester United. Ashworth later said he regretted leaving Newcastle because he had a very good relationship with coach Eddie Howe. Currently, the FA declined to comment on Ashworth's imminent return.