Erik ten Hag delivers verdict on potential Dan Ashworth arrival at Manchester United

Erik ten Hag is open to the prospect of Manchester United bringing in a sporting director, though warned they must be “aligned” with the philosophy and tactics at the club.

United are keen to bring in Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth as sporting director, continuing an overhaul of the club’s structure following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s move to acquire a 25% shareholding.

Newcastle are believed to be want a compensation fee of more than £10m, having been informed of United’s approach by Ashworth.

Omar Berrada has already arrived from Manchester City as the new chief executive, while changes could also be made to the recruitment team. Brighton’s head of recruitment Sam Jewell has been linked with both United and Chelsea in recent days.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of United’s trip to face Luton this weekend, Ten Hag made it clear he would welcome new additions in the club’s bid to get back to challenging for major honours.

“I am working, I am happy now, in this construction and when things change they will tell me,” Ten Hag said.

“But in a club as Manchester United you can’t do everything alone, it is impossible, you need very good people around you. I am happy but a club like Manchester United also have to look for better, never be satisfied, good is not good enough, always looking for better and always try to every day to do better than the day before."

United have been active in the transfer market in recent windows, with a new UEFA report revealing the club had the most expensively assembled squad ever in 2023.

Antony, Casemiro and Jadon Sancho are among those to have made big-money moves to Old Trafford, and the £1.2bn spent on transfer fees does not include those brought in last summer, such as Rasmus Hojlund and Andre Onana.

Quizzed on his views on working with others, Ten Hag emphasised the need to be aligned when it comes to recruitment.

“I think it is very important you are on one page about football philosophy, about football tactics, about the profiles of the players you need in the team so it is very important to have very good communication so you get the right players,” Ten Hag said.

“It is one of the most important factors to develop a good team, that you have the right players but also the right characters.

“That means you have to do the right work and be aligned and it’s a long process to get the right players in.”