Dan Ashworth's surprise exit at Manchester United has sent shockwaves around the footballing world.
INEOS courted the 53-year-old former FA chief all summer and were even prepared to wait for his gardening leave at Newcastle United to be over before choosing to hire him. But just five months into his tenure at Old Trafford, the house of cards has come crashing down.
Informed of his decision on Saturday, Ashworth is now out of work once again and with minority co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe proving quite the cold-blood character, it begs the question as to who will replace the former Magpies director in the Manchester United hot seat?
Dougie Freedman leads the way with the bookmakers as Dan Ashworth's successor mooted
Plenty of names have already started to be linked with a move to Old Trafford but it is Crystal Palace's sporting director Dougie Freedman who leads the way. BonusCodeBets has the 50-year-old as the 2/1 frontrunner at present.
Freedman worked in management for a brief period, with spells at Palace, Bolton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest preceding his move into directorship at Selhurst Park. He has been in the role with the Eagles since 2017.
Second favourite is Atletico Madrid's sporting director Andrea Berta, with the odds of him succeeding Ashworth as short as 4/1. Juventus' Cristiano Giuntoli (6/1) is next on the list.
Lee Congerton and Paolo Maldini are both priced at 16/1 with the latter having recently spent four years at the San Siro as the club's technical director from 2019-2023.
Another Newcastle chief in Paul Mitchell could be an option and he is now 20/1 to takeover with the bookies, but that would present perhaps another no-go given the scale of Ashworth's downfall.
He was linked with the job at the Theatre of Dreams before INEOS took over back in December 2023 and we here at FourFourTwo can't see another Newcastle staff member leaving for Manchester United any time soon.
Next Manchester United sporting director odds
- Dougie Freedman - 2/1
- Andrea Berta - 4/1
- Cristiano Giuntoli - 6/1
- Lee Congerton - 12/1
- Paolo Maldini - 16/1
- Paul Mitchell - 20/1
- Julian Ward - 25/1
- Ralf Rangnick - 33/1
- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - 50/1
via BonusCodeBets.
