The latest financial figures from Manchester United show that former sports director than Ashworth received a payment of £ 4.1 million despite the fact that he only worked at Old Trafford for 159 days.
The details were unveiled this morning when the quarterly accounts of United were submitted to the New York Stock Exchange.
It was already known that United paid £ 10.4 million in compensation to former boss Erik ten Hag and his coaching staff when the Dutchman was fired in October, only three and a half months after signing a one -year contract extension.
An expensive mistake?
But accepting and dismissing Ashworth was today the remarkable admission given the enormous costs of his short stint at the club.
Ashworth started in United on July 1, 2024, after having spent five months with gardening in the former club Newcastle, and only after Sir Jim Ratcliffe had arranged a long -term compensation right with the Tyneside club after he had appointed £ 5 million.
He was fired on December 8, shortly after United had suffered a 3-2 defeat at Nottingham Forest at home, while cracks continued to appear in a united team that Ratcliffe invested heavily in the summer.
The revelation that Ashworth cost the club £ 9 million before wages are taken into account comes at a bad time for Ratcliffe because it continues to take unpopular cost -saving measures.
More than 200 people have been made superfluous since Ratcliffe acquired a purchase of 27.7 percent minority share in February last year.
Today’s figures also revealed that the broadcasting income fell by 42.1 percent on an annual basis to £ 61.6 million because the club abused the Champions League qualification this season and instead participated in the Europa League.
Burrada focuses on the positives
United CEO Omar Berrada insisted that there were still reasons for optimism – pointing to the positive work that took place at the club – and emphasized that the most important priority improved the results on the field with the United men’s team in 15th place in the Premier League.
For the last time in Goodison Park 🔜⏳#Murnc || @Betfred pic.twitter.com/ts3romoj5
– Manchester United (@manutd) February 19, 2025
He said: “We recognize the challenges in improving the competition position of our men and we all work hard, collective, to achieve that. At the same time, we are happy that we went to the knockout phase of the UEFA Europa League and the fifth round of the FA Cup.
“In the meantime, our women’s team is currently second in the Super League for women and has reached the quarter -finals of the FA Cup.
“Our redevelopment of the Carrington Training Complex remains on the right track. We continue to work on a decision about the future of Old Trafford as part of a broader regeneration program, which has now hired British government support. This follows the work of the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force when demonstrating the significant economic potential of a revitalized area around a future stadium project. “
