Axed Man Utd director Dan Ashworth ‘frogmarched out of Old Trafford’ by alternative exit hours before contract ripped up

DAN ASHWORTH was reportedly "frogmarched" out of a hidden Old Trafford exit after agreeing to leave Manchester United.

The sporting director's time at the club has come to an end after just five months.

United pushed hard to add him to their boardroom in the summer, paying Newcastle £3million in compensation.

But following crunch talks with CEO Omar Berrada after the 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest last night, Ashworth quit by "mutual consent", according to a United statement.

claim he was seen looking "grim-faced" as he trudged across the press room yesterday.

He was "escorted" out an "alternative exit" by a member of security and United's chief operating officer Collette Roche.

Ashworth was did not leave through the usual directors' entrance or Stretford End tunnel.

Journalist Samuel Luckhurst wrote on social media: "In retrospect, perhaps he was frogmarched out."

Ashworth and other senior club figures are responsible for handing Erik ten Hag a new contract, only to sack him 14 games later.

And they were in charge of the summer transfer business that saw them spend £200m on Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs De Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee and Noussair Mazraoui.

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The 53-year-old chief claimed he "liked" the squad earlier this season.

But SunSport exclusively revealed last month that the summer spending spree and Ten Hag's failure caused a blame game to begin in the boardroom.

Crystal Palace chief Dougie Freedman is favourite to replace Ashworth, having been linked with the job before.