Erik ten Hag wants control over transfers at Manchester United - but he signed Antony

It might be the same old story on the pitch, but the winds of change are blowing through OId Trafford off it. Sir Jim Ratcliffe has wasted no time in trying to engineer improvement throughout the club after his investment in Manchester United was confirmed.

One of the priority areas for Ratcliffe and Ineos' head of sport Sir Dave Brailsford has been restructuring the football department. Dan Ashworth will oversee that once an exit agreement has been reached with Newcastle and further changes are coming, with a focus on recruitment considered key.

"I think recruitment in the modern game is critical," said Ratcliffe last week. "Manchester United have clearly spent a lot of money but they haven't done as well as some other clubs. So when I was talking about being best in class in all aspects of football, recruitment is probably top of the list."

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That is why Ashworth is being pursued, along with Southampton's director of football Jason Wilcox. Ineos are clearly determined to reshape how United go about their recruitment.

But that could lead them to conflict with Erik ten Hag, providing the Dutchman manages to navigate a disastrous season of results to survive in his post. Before he even started work at Old Trafford, Ten Hag had publicly stressed his need for "control" over transfers. Now changes are afoot at the club, but last week he doubled down on the importance of the manager deciding transfers.

"Yes, I am sure. It’s control. And I have had the talks with them about it," he said.

"They will not bring in players who the manager doesn’t want, because that will not work. We will