Dan Ashworth's departure from Manchester United has taken the whole football world by surprise.

The United sporting director agreed a mutual departure with the club on Saturday night in the aftermath of their disappointing defeat to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford.

Ashworth was escorted out of the stadium via the press room just 20 minutes after the full-time whistle and United confirmed his exit in a brief 41-word statement.

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United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was said to be behind the decision to move in a direction and there was an acceptance from both sides that Ashworth didn't fit the Ineos regime, led by Sir Dave Brailsford and CEO Omar Berrada.

After just five months, and a long protracted pursuit to prise him away from Newcastle United that ultimately cost United millions, and just one transfer window at the helm that saw United spend around £200m, Ashworth has been paid off, just over a month after Erik ten Hag was sacked, and the club must now decide how to replace him.

It will be interesting to see what's next for Ashworth, too, given he left a secure job as Newcastle's sporting director at a club where he he received credit for their upward trajectory.

One person he worked closely with at St James' Park was the Magpies' manager Eddie Howe. Much has been made about their pair's relationship, but just this week Howe chose to publicly praise Ashworth.

“He is a really smart guy [who is] very well organised. Dan’s biggest strength is he looks at things from top to bottom," Howe explained on Simon Jordan's Up Front podcast.

"He is a really good problem-solver and will work his way through things from a structural viewpoint and then rebuild them. I got on really well with him, got on well with him and I was sad to see him go. But I also understood his viewpoint and wish him well.”

Five months, clearly, isn't enough time for him to have restructured United from top to bottom. The club were only at the start of that process under Ashworth.

But given Ratcliffe publicly criticised United's recruitment earlier this week, it's perhaps unsurprising Ashworth has paid the price - even if the signings of Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs De Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee had Ten Hag's pawprints all over them.

Ashworth may have been a 'really good problem-solver' but United's decision makers clearly did not trust him to solve theirs. What is clear, though, is that they must find someone who can and quickly.

Otherwise, their already falling confidence in them among the club's support will reach new lows.