Manchester United players sent stark warning ahead of Dan Ashworth arrival

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster has warned the Reds' current playing squad that Dan Ashworth will ring big changes at the club.

Last week, MEN Sport reported that United were interested in making Ashworth their new sporting director and the 52-year-old had his heart set on moving to Old Trafford. On Monday, an official statement was released by the Magpies which declared that Ashworth had been placed on gardening leave after expressing his desire to leave the club.

It is now only a matter of time before Ashworth joins INEOS' project at United. However, the Red Devils must negotiate a compensation package with Newcastle before he can start work.

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If a suitable solution is not reached, Ashworth would only be able to join the Red Devils at the end of the gardening leave period which is forecast to be 2026. Discussing the incoming Newcastle chief on The United Stand, Foster warned the current squad big changes are on the horizon.

"I promise you it doesn’t matter how good they are on the pitch, Dan Ashworth will go in there and talk to everybody he can possibly talk to," Foster explained. "He’ll talk to the players, he’ll talk to everybody throughout that football club, and he’ll find out who the d******** are.

"He’ll weed them out, I promise you, and they won’t have a future at Manchester United. It doesn’t matter how good they are, it doesn’t matter if they are a star player on the pitch on a Saturday afternoon."

If appointed soon, Ashworth would become Sir Jim Ratcliffe's second major boardroom appointment after Omar Berrada was hired as CEO in