Dan Ashworth's 10 best signings as sporting director - ranked
- Dan Ashworth is tipped to become Man Utd's new sporting director
- The Englishman has worked at Brighton
- He is currently working for Newcastle United
Manchester United are expected to reach an agreement to appoint Dan Ashworth as the club's new sporting director.
Ashworth would come to the club with a wealth of experience, successfully building the transfer-heralded Brighton & Hove Albion of the last few years and helping make Newcastle United a Champions League team for the first time in two decades.
Here are the best signings that Ashworth has masterminded throughout his career.
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10. Peter Odemwingie
Transfer: Lokomotiv Moscow to West Brom
Fee: £1.5m
To many, Peter Odemwingie is just a transfer deadline day meme thanks to his failed attempts to force through a move from West Brom to QPR.
Before the meme however, Odemwingie was a fantastic player for the Black Country club.
Signed from Russia in 2010 when Ashworth was part of the setup at The Hawthorns, the striker was genuinely very, very good for West Brom. Odemwingie bagged 30 Premier League goals - including 15 in his first season - and won the player of the month award on three occasions.
9. Marc Cucurella
Transfer: Getafe to Brighton
Fee: £15m
Spoiler alert for this list: a lot of the best signings Dan Ashworth has made during his career were at Brighton.
Marc Cucurella had been highly-regarded during his time at Getafe, but few expected the full-back to be quite as good as he was during his single season at the Amex Stadium.
The Spain international was one of the club's most consistent performers during the 2021/22 campaign, earning a Brighton player of the season award and a whopping £55m move to Chelsea as a result.
That £40m profit Brighton made on Cucurella looks better with each passing week as the full-back has largely struggled to replicate his south coast form at Stamford Bridge.
8. Leandro Trossard
Transfer: Genk to Brighton
Fee: £13m
One of the many players that Ashworth took from the near unknown during his time at Brighton, Leandro Trossard joined the club in 2019 and become a key and consistent contributor at the Amex Stadium.
The Belgian was a regular provider of double-digit goal contributions a season until he upped sticks to join Arsenal.
7. Romelu Lukaku
Transfer: Chelsea to West Brom
Fee: Loan
The day when Romelu Lukaku can be considered a "good signing" for any club to make are gone at this point - in fact, his mega money return to Chelsea in 2021 is widely considered to be one of the worst signings of all time - but back in 2012 was an extremely shrewd acquisition by Ashworth and West Brom.
Lukaku enjoyed one loan season at The Hawthorns, scoring 17 Premier League goals and including two perfect hat-tricks - one of which in Sir Alex Ferguson's last ever game in charge of Manchester United.
6. Nick Pope
Transfer: Burnley to Newcastle
Fee: £10m
During the season prior to the signing of Nick Pope, Newcastle United conceded 62 Premier League goals.
In Pope's first season at the club, Newcastle United kept 14 clean sheets and conceded 33 goals en route to finishing in the top four.
Not bad for £10m, eh?
5. Kaoru Mitoma
Transfer: Kawasaki Frontale to Brighton
Fee: £2.5m
You didn't know Kawasaki Frontale existed prior to Kaoru Mitoma's breakthrough, did you?
Don't feel bad about it, few did.
Taken from complete obscurity in 2021, Mitoma replaced Trossard in Brighton's starting lineup and thoroughly impressed.
The Japan international is now said to be worth around £70m and is widely regarded as one of the better left wingers in the Premier League.
4. Alexander Isak
Transfer: Real Sociedad to Newcastle United
Fee: £63m
Most of Ashworth's most lauded business has been cheap acquisitions who have starred at their club and then been sold for gigantic fees elsewhere.
Alexander Isak was not one of those signings.
Instead, Isak was a big money signing for Newcastle, joining for a whopping £63m.
While injuries have proven to be an issue for Isak at time throughout his Newcastle career, one can't deny that the striker has been brilliant when fit and available.
His outrageous goal against Everton tells you all you need to know about how bloody good he is.
3. Sven Botman
Transfer: Lille to Newcastle
Fee: £31m
Another of Ashworth's big money signings, and another which has been an undeniable hit.
The signing of Sven Botman from Lille is perhaps the best exemplification of Ashworth's negotiating prowess too. The defender has the opportunity to join one of the biggest clubs in Europe in AC Milan, but instead chose to join Newcastle in 2022.
2. Alexis Mac Allister
Transfer: Argentinos Juniors to Brighton
Fee: £6.9m
The signing of a seemingly Scottish (but actually Argentine) midfielder who was playing for a mid-table Argentine team didn't cause much of a reverberation across England.
That lowkey signing proved to be an utterly fantastic one though. After a period back in Argentina on loan with Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors, Mac Allister returned to Brighton and instantly became one of the better midfielders in the Premier League, while he helped his country to 2022 FIFA World Cup success all the while.
The midfielder's fantastic performances helped Brighton to qualify for the UEFA Europa League for the first time - a competition he now plays in with Liverpool.
1. Moises Caicedo
Transfer: Independiente del Valle to Brighton
Fee: £4m
In terms of profit, there's very few better transactions made by anyone than the one involving Moises Caicedo.
Plucked from obscurity (as per) by Ashworth for £4m, Brighton would go on to sell the midfielder for £115m to Chelsea; thus making a £111m profit.
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