Dan Ashworth sacking 'not a good look' as Manchester United legend 'shocked' at Ineos decision

Pundits have been delivering their reaction to the news that Dan Ashworth has been sacked by Manchester United.

The 53-year-old was relieved of his duties as United's sporting director by mutual agreement on Sunday after just five months in the position. Ashworth began work on July 1, but his arrival had been delayed by protracted negotiations with Newcastle, who made him serve a period of gardening leave. Sir Jim Ratcliffe described Ashworth as one of 'the top sporting directors in the world' when he joined; however, he has now left the club less than half a season into his reign.

The former Brighton and Newcastle director was expected to oversee United's recruitment for years to come and usher in a new era following Ratcliffe's investment, and his exit is a shock. It's thought the decision was mutual. Here, the Manchester Evening News takes a look at what pundits have had to say about his dismissal.

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Manchester United icon Gary Neville has expressed his shock at Dan Ashworth's exit as sporting director. He told NBC Sports: "Something like that can't be mutual. We all knew when INEOS came in, there would be huge changes, there has been - massive redundancies in the club, a complete overhaul of the executive in the club, CEO, CFO, sporting director, technical director, manager just recently as well.

"You would have expected large changes but not for this position. Dan Ashworth was headhunted for many, many months, he was chased for about 10 months, he was on gardening leave for four or five minutes, he was paid millions of pounds for, I worked with Dan Ashworth at the FA and