Dan Ashworth closing in on shock return to football just four months after being brutally sacked by Man Utd

DAN ASHWORTH is in line to return to football with a senior role at the FA, according to reports.

Ashworth, 54, was sacked by Manchester United in December after just five months at Old Trafford.

Now the former Newcastle and Brighton chief is set to return to the FA, where he spent five years as Director of Development between 2013 and 2018.

According to The Telegraph, Ashworth has been in talks with the FA over the role for some time – long before Thomas Tuchel's opening two games during the international break.

It's claimed that Ashworth would be joining in a role that would see him oversee the “St George's Park 2.0 project” – a huge redevelopment project of England's training ground facilities announced last month.

It's thought that Ashworth would also look after both the men’s and women’s senior and junior teams, looking closely at coach development.

At present, it appears that Ashworth's appointment would have no impact on the the current technical director roles within the FA.

Ashworth has been without a job since his dismissal at Old Trafford, but has been considered for a number of different roles in the meantime.

It was revealed that he was one of many candidates considered by Arsenal for their sporting director job, before the North London club landed on former Atletico Madrid chief Andrea Berta.

Ashworth has been praised for his role with England and the FA in the past – spearheading a period of change with the national team.

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The Telegraph has claimed that there's concern within the FA about the state of British coaching pathways with very few home nation bosses in top flight football and German national Thomas Tuchel in charge of the national side.

It was revealed last month that Ashworth's exit from Manchester United had cost the club £4.1MILLION.

Ashworth has also taken up an advisory role with Warwickshire County Cricket Club since leaving the Red Devils, according to The Times.

He has been involved with the cricket club since 2021, having held an honorary role on their audit committee for over three years.

That role is said to have involved oversight of what Warwickshire call their “elite teams and high-performance structure”.

England ratings vs Albania as Lewis-Skelly enjoys dream debut but Tuchel fails to solve Foden issue

By Tom Barclay

MYLES LEWIS-SKELLY made history and Harry Kane extended his own record-breaking as England sunk Albania in Thomas Tuchel's first game.

Lewis-Skelly became the youngest player to score on his Three Lions debut and top goal-getter Kane notched his 70th international strike as Tuchel began his World Cup qualifying campaign with a modest 2-0 win.

New boy Dan Burn partnered Ezri Konsa in central defence at Wembley, while Marcus Rashford and Curtis Jones were also handed starts.

Meanwhile, Tuchel wrestled with the same issue faced by predecessor Sir Gareth Southgate – deciding where to fit in Phil Foden.

Left-back Lewis-Skelly, 18, slotted home on 20 minutes following a delightful turn and even better pass from Jude Bellingham.

But England stuttered after the break – until skipper Kane classily took down a Declan Rice pass and curved home the clincher.

Here's how SunSport's Tom Barclay rated the Three Lions in German manager Tuchel's opening match…