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Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth has lavished praise on the club’s transfer window.
The mood around Old Trafford is relatively dark following a 0-3 thrashing at the hands of bitter rivals Liverpool on Sunday.
Nonetheless, the rebuild project at the club is not a quick fix and most fans appreciate that it will take months, if not years before the club is ready to compete at the highest level.
The Red Devils have brought in five excellent first team signings this summer in the form of Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte. There have also been well-publicised departures in the form of Mason Greenwood, Scott McTominay and Jadon Sancho.
Speaking to The Athletic about the players who have come into Old Trafford this summer Ashworth claimed, “I like the squad, I have to say. I probably would say that after the business we’ve done in the summer.”
The former Newcastle man stated that he has been involved in recruitment for a long time now and while you never get everything you want in a window, the club should be content with the summer they have just had.
Elaborating on his thoughts he said, “there are always bits where you go, ‘If only I could have done that, or if only I could have got that over the line’. But, in the main, the target positions we wanted to strengthen, the players we’ve brought in, the depth and options when everybody is fully fit that Erik has, and we have as a club, I’m pleased with that, yeah.”
Unlike previous summers, United were able to shed certain big salaries like Raphael Varane and Anthony Martial as well as selling unwanted players like Sancho.
One player that hit the headlines over his departure was Scott McTominay, who left after 22 years of service at the club. Manager Erik ten Hag was initially against the idea of selling the Scot but he was finally convinced due to the profitability of such a move under current PSR rules.
Speaking on departures Ashworth opined, “sometimes you have to be quite brave and make decisions that maybe you don’t want to make, and you’re also dealing with players that ultimately want to play football.”
The 53 year old commented on the tight balancing act of building a squad deep enough to challenge on all fronts, including the expanded format of European competition, but also limiting the number of players to maintain motivation within the squad: “If you run with too big a squad, it can cause problems. So you have to sometimes make some brave decisions on that.”
Supporters of the club will be hoping that the squad can begin to build on the promise of a strong window after the international break in mid-September.
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