Erik ten Hag responds to Man Utd's pursuit of Dan Ashworth

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has welcomed the ambition of new investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team, which is set to see Dan Ashworth appointed as sporting director.

The influence of Ratcliffe’s has already been felt with the appointment of Omar Berrada as incoming chief executive, formerly in charge of football operations at the rival City Football Group. Ashworth is known to be specifically admired by Sir Dave Brailsford, Ratcliffe’s most trusted sporting advisor.

It will mean someone else coming into the Old Trafford hierarchy, but Ten Hag is happy for the help and to see that his new bosses in charge of the football department are aiming high.

"I am working, I am happy now, in this construction," the Dutchman said at a press conference on Thursday. "When things change, they will tell me but in a club [like] 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," he added. "Good is not good enough, always looking for better and always try to every day to do better than the day before. 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."

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Ten Hag also commented on the fresh energy and boost to morale that ratification of the investment has given to people already at the club.

"You see and feel that ambition and it brings a mood and a spirit in this club, a mood and a spirit that belongs to this club. The players, the staff are very aligned with the ambitions of Ineos,” he said.

"That's why we are here, that's why we're playing for Manchester United, we want to win and we want to achieve the highest. We are very aligned, we have to make strategies and execute strategies to prove the ambitions."

Women's team manager Marc Skinner had made similar comments a few hours earlier when he spoke prior to the weekend's WSL clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

"Sir Dave and Sir Jim coming in is going to be a welcome investment in the whole club," Skinner explained. "Exciting times. You can clearly see that we’re pushing towards the idea of how INEOS want us to look. Everyone at the club, you can feel the energy and the movement."

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