Manchester United interested in ex-Man City academy chief Jason Wilcox but could wait for Dan Ashworth

Manchester United are prepared to wait to appoint Dan Ashworth after baulking at Newcastle's £10m price tag for their sporting director, but they are ready to start work on assembling a team around him, with Jason Wilcox lined up for a role in the new structure.

United want to get Ashworth in as quickly as possible but see Newcastle's demands as excessive and an attempt to massage their own financial fair play problems, with any fee creating more wriggle room in the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules, which is a tightrope that is also being navigated at Old Trafford.

INEOS are now preparing an official approach for the 52-year-old and will hold talks with Newcastle, but they are willing to wait for Ashworth to serve a period of gardening leave if required.

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The former West Brom and Brighton executive is keen to join the Ineos revolution as United's new sporting director, however, and moves are already afoot to build a structure around him, with Wilcox emerging as a target for a recruitment position, although there has been no approach to Southampton for their director of football to date.

Wilcox is admired by people at INEOS and worked closely with United's new chief executive Omar Berrada at Manchester City, where he served as academy director, with Berrada an admirer of his work at the Etihad.

Brailsford was at Carrington on Thursday and United are now making progress in getting the structure that INEOS want in place. Appointing a chief executive was the first stage of that and they believe it was a coup to attract Berrada from City, although the Paris-born executive will only be able to take up his