Everything Dan Ashworth touches turns to gold! No wonder Man Utd are so desperate to hire Newcastle's director of football who helped set England up for tournament success

Long before he was placed in charge of an entire nation's footballing future, Ashworth was released by Norwich City as a youngster. Wanting to stay in the game, he took in non-league spells at the likes of Eastbourne Town and St. Leonards, as well as travelling to the United States to play at West Florida Fury. He supplemented his income by working as a PE teacher.

But he soon discovered that his talents may be better utilised off the pitch, rather than on it. Ashworth earned his first coaching badge as a teenager and after his modest playing career came to an end, he took over as Peterborough's academy director at the turn of the millennium.

A year later, he would be appointed Cambridge United's centre of excellence director and soon started turning heads. So much so that, in March 2004, Aidy Boothroyd recruited him to assist in the running of West Brom's own youth development centre.

Boothroyd's departure for Leeds United a few months later kickstarted Ashworth's ascent to the top. Instead of hiring from the outside, West Brom promoted him to the top job, placing the young man in charge of all of the Baggies' youth development.

Chairman Jeremy Peace was seriously impressed with his performance in this position, and three years into his tenure he was bumped up again, this time to sporting and technical director. While this kind of role is now familiar to British football fans, at the time it was a bold step. Then-West Brom manager Tony Mowbray was certainly impressed, lavishing both Peace and Ashworth with praise in a recent interview with The Athletic.

“Dan took a lot of the burden off me,” he said. “I’d even call Jeremy Peace a bit of a visionary for appointing him.” He added: “Dan’s very good at bringing people together and getting the maximum out of everything and everyone. He dilutes conflict and oils the machine to make it run seamlessly.”

And it wasn't just Mowbray that Ashworth impressed during his time at The Hawthorns. By the early 2010s, English football's powerbrokers were also taking notice.

In 2012, the Three Lions were at the lowest ebb of their modern history. The men's 'Golden Generation' had not lived up to their sky-high potential, failing to deliver a single piece of silverware, while the women's team were reaching the end of the Hope Powell era, with chronic underfunding contributing to disappointing tournament finishes in 2011 and 2013.

It was in this deflated atmosphere that Ashworth began work as England's director of elite development. He was given a wide-ranging remit, being tasked with making the country's new St George's Park training base feel like home, as well as orchestrating a turnaround in fortunes at the men's, women's and youth-team levels.

It would be simplistic to say that Ashworth's work is entirely embodied in the England DNA document he helped draft, though it provides an extremely useful insight into his influence.

Published in 2014, Ashworth said at the time: “As a football nation we have long been characterised by our passion, fighting spirit and effort. Although there are aspects of these characteristics we wish to retain, we do not wish to be solely defined by them.”

The blueprint was long, but the most relevant sections were a detailed breakdown outlining the various England teams' collective style of play. Key points were a desire to "intelligently dominate possession, selecting the right moments to progress the play and penetrate the opposition" and aiming "to regain possession intelligently and as early and as efficiently as possible."

There was a focus on uniformity through the age groups, too. "England development teams will play with tactical flexibility, influenced by the profile of the players and the requirements of the match or competition," another passage read.

The other key aspect detailed what the "future England player" would look like, with "technical, tactical, physical, psychological and social" elements all emphasised. This holistic approach was much needed, as part of the failure of the 'Golden Generation' was down to players from competing Premier League clubs being unable to put rivalries aside when they met up for international camps, as well as the collective mental strain so many years of failure took on the group.

In addition, during Ashworth's time at the helm, the popularity of all England teams has skyrocketed, with the strict code of conduct he helped implement a big reason why.

Football is too complex to say that Ashworth and Co's efforts single-handedly turned the nation's footballing fortunes around - but it's pretty clear that it has played a very significant role.

A sizable proportion of the players involved in the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020 campaigns - where England performed well - are children of Ashworth's new vision at St George's Park. It's a similar story for the Lionesses too, who ended England's wait for a major trophy in 2022 before following that up with a strong World Cup showing.

Success at youth level has followed in various guises as well, with Ashworth collecting the 2017 Maurice Burlaz Trophy - a UEFA award given to the international set-up with the most success in men's age-group competition - during the calendar year.

Viewing things through a wider lens, the quality of resources available for developing coaches increased sizeably under Ashworth, though it's hard to ignore Ashworth's involvement in a scandal that rocked the Football Association in 2017. Back then, he was tasked with overseeing the investigation into then-Lionesses manager Mark Sampson, after Eni Aluko accused him of making a comment with "racial and prejudicial connotations" towards a team-mate.

Sampson was cleared - before later being sacked for having an inappropriate relationship with a player during his time at Bristol Academy - but the PFA slammed the investigation as "not a genuine search for the truth". Men's manager Southgate defended Ashworth publicly in the aftermath, saying his colleague would always "want to work ethically in the right way".

This Sampson incident aside, there has been plenty of praise for the job Ashworth did for the Three Lions. Former England Under-20s manager Paul Simpson is one of many who has credited Ashworth - along with Southgate and head of development teams Matt Crocker - with this quite phenomenal turnaround. "They were catalysts for the whole change of mentality at the FA," Simpson told The Mirror.

"With the work they did, they brought about a lot of changes, and with Gareth going up with the seniors, he's created an environment where they all enjoy going. We've got away from a few years ago where it seemed players didn't want to play for the national team. I wasn't there for it, but they talk about little cliques and a bad feeling between the groups and stuff like that, that was not something I ever saw in my time."

After leading England to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018, Southgate took time to single out Ashworth for special credit. "That is a great credit to everyone involved, the backing the FA has given us in building St George's Park and investing in the teams, to the work being done in youth development and to Dan in particular for putting those plans in place, which we have seen pay off for Spain, Germany and France."

Ashworth's recent successes are not limited to the international game, though. In 2018, he was poached by Brighton to be their technical director. His responsibilities were similar to those he was burdened with at West Brom a decade earlier, with his role, in his own words, to "oversee the football side of the club and connect the different departments."

He added in an interview with The Coaches Voice: "I’m at the centre of the wheel, connecting the seven football ‘bubbles’ at the end of the spokes. Those seven departments are: Graham Potter, the manager; Hope Powell, the women’s first-team manager; Paul Winstanley, head of recruitment and analysis; David Weir, the loans manager; John Morling, who is academy manager; Adam Brett, who heads up medical and sports science; and James Bell and Cara Lea Moseley, who are in charge of psychology and mental wellbeing."

Running through Ashworth's entire work at Brighton was a coherent philosophy, similar to the England DNA. "For example, we value the in-possession qualities of our defenders more than some other clubs might. So, whether we’re buying a player, training a youngster in the academy, finding a coach or loaning a player out, we think about getting the most from our defenders when they have the ball," he explained.

Ashworth came out of his spell on the south coast with his reputation further enhanced. The Seagulls have regularly been held up as an example of a model Premier League clubs in recent years, excelling in several areas, including youth development and most notably, recruitment.

Thus, when Newcastle were taken over by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, it was little surprise that Ashworth was at the very top of their list of backroom targets. It took some time for a deal to be agreed, but the Magpies eventually got their man, with Ashworth starting work at the beginning of last season.

"Ashworth will be responsible for the club's overarching sporting strategy, football development and recruitment at all age levels, and will work closely with head coach Eddie Howe, academy manager Steve Harper and head of recruitment Steve Nickson," a club statement read at the time, with Howe excitingly welcoming his appointment.

"Dan was the ideal person for this hugely important position. He has a strong track record in elite level football and we are delighted to have him join Newcastle United ahead of the new season," the club's owners added.

Prior to his arrival, Ashworth conducted lengthy analysis into all aspects of the club, and since his appointment has been beavering away in the background, laying the groundwork for what the club anticipate to be a long-term era of success.

With a new training ground to come and big plans for their women's team in the works, the Magpies will have been hoping to have Ashworth at the helm for years to come. But it appears he is braced from a premature exit to one of their rivals.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co have wasted little time clearing house since their takeover was confirmed. CEO Omar Berrada has already been stolen away from Manchester City to replace Richard Arnold - who was booted out in November 2023 - while the club's first-ever football director, Jon Murtough, is expected to be demoted if he does not leave when the new sporting director is brought in.

It's anticipated that Ashworth will be operating in a similar way to how he did at Brighton and Newcastle, though he may expect to have a greater influence over recruitment following United's poor record in this department in recent times. According to The Independent, he will at least receive some assistance in this area, with a new head of recruitment - who will report to Ashworth - expected to be appointed imminently.

There is a sizeable stumbling block to be negotiated before United can appoint their man, however. Namely, the terms of Ashworth's St James' Park release.

It's understood that the Magpies will demand £20 million ($25m) compensation from United to prise their sporting director away from the north east. Quite understandably, the Red Devils are reluctant to pay such an exorbitant fee for an executive, but if they refuse to cough up, the terms of Ashworth's gardening leave means he could be unable to start at Old Trafford until 2026. That's a far from ideal start for Ratcliffe's footballing revolution.

So, should United bite the bullet and cough up? It's a difficult one, but the club's decision will be a good litmus test for how much of Ratcliffe's post-takeover optimism will come to pass over the next few years.

When INEOS' part-purchase of the club was confirmed, United's new ownership spoke of long-term planning and improved top-down organisation. His track record suggests there is no better person to facilitate this than Ashworth. He has demonstrable experience in implementing a coherent, holistic philosophy at a football club - something United have been crying out for for years - is a recruitment wizard, and knows how to dispel a toxic atmosphere.

If Ratcliffe is serious about overhauling United at every level, he needs to bite the bullet and pay Newcastle what they want, as painful as they may be in the short term, because the club certainly cannot afford to wait two years for Ashworth to get to work.