Dan Ashworth has already made feelings clear on Erik ten Hag's new Man Utd contract

Dan Ashworth has expressed his support for Erik ten Hag’s extended commitment to Manchester United. The announcement that the Dutch manager had penned a new deal until 2026 came on Thursday (July 4), hot on the heels of Ashworth’s own confirmation as United’s new sporting director just three days prior.

Previously on gardening leave from Newcastle since February after signalling his intention to switch to Manchester, Ashworth was able to start his new position earlier thanks to an out-of-court settlement between the clubs, allowing him to join Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s team at Old Trafford.

Ashworth, who has lauded Ten Hag as one of Europe’s top coaches, has always stressed the significance of a manager’s alignment with the club’s ethos and its impact down to the reserve and academy levels, reports the Manchester Evening News. That has now been put into action at Old Trafford following Ten Hag’s extension.

During a discussion with BT Sport while at Brighton, he said: “You hire a coach that matches the philosophy that the club thinks they want to go.” Adding: “What Tony and the board wouldn’t do is hire a coach that’s totally against the direction of travel they want the club to go in. My job is to stitch that together”.

He also emphasised the need for coherent planning across all youth levels to ensure players have the best opportunity to progress, stating: “It is then about making sure that the U23s, U18s and Academy put the right plans around the young players to give them every chance of being able to play for Brighton and Graham.

“My view – our view – is that if you keep changing the head coach every 14 months or so, which is the average lifespan of a manager nowadays, and then go from one philosophy to another, you have no chance of joining up your loans, Academy, development and player recruitment.”

Ashworth also talked about his excitement at working with Ten Hag in realising United’s goal of consistently competing for and winning the biggest club football trophies. “This group of players and staff have already shown they are capable of competing and winning at the top level; now we need to do it more consistently,” he stated.

“With our strengthened football leadership team now in place, we are looking forward to working hand-in-hand with Erik to achieve our shared ambitions for this football club.” Despite what was a below-par league campaign for United who finished eighth, they will be playing Europa League football this upcoming season thanks to their FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City.

In what will no doubt be an action-filled summer at the club, Ten Hag is already on the hunt for potential arrivals, including his compatriot and former player Matthijs De Ligt who is in talks to join the Red Devils from German giants Bayern Munich.