DAN ASHWORTH'S JOAO PEDRO TALKS COME TO LIGHT AS MAN UTD TOLD HIS £50M TEAM-MATE IS CLASS

Ex-Brighton and Hove Albion star Glenn Murray revealed he once told Manchester United supremo Dan Ashworth to sign Joao Pedro.

Five years before he was installed as United sporting director, Ashworth was the technical director at the Amex Stadium. Over the last five years, Brighton have established themselves as one of the most financially savvy clubs in the Premier League and European football.

One of their signings last season was former Watford ace Pedro, who signed from the Hornets for the Seagulls for £30million. A matter of years before he moved to the South Coast side, Murray, who played alongside the Brazilian at the Hornets, recommended his ex-team-mate in private talks with Ashworth.

Ashworth never moved for him while he was at Brighton but rivalled his old club for Pedro's signature when he was at Newcastle United, which suggested he had listened to Murray's advice and taken a fancying of the player.

While speaking on Brighton and Hove Albion's official YouTube channel, Murray was talking about Pedro with Danny Welbeck after the latter heaped huge praise on the Brazilian. Murray said: "I must admit, when I played with you guys with Watford, he was the one that makes you go 'Wow, who is this kid?' The things he could do, he (Pedro) was so good.

"I think there’s a lot more growth in him, he has loads more to give. We’ve seen glimpses from last year of what he is capable of and his tally was impressive in the end. But, I think he can get so much better."

He also added: "I’ll be honest, he was my first call back to Dan Ashworth. I was literally getting on the train and I was like ‘You’ve got to sign this kid’. He was that type of player where you were just blown away by him."

Ashworth departed Brighton in February 2022, just under 18 months before Pedro arrived at Brighton. He would go on to spend close to two years at Newcastle, before departing the Magpies to take over as sporting director at Old Trafford this summer.

United have since been linked with a wide variety of players from Brighton. They are among the admirers of academy star Evan Ferguson, who hammered home 16 goals and five assists in his debut campaign.

However, injuries last season restricted him to just six goals in 27 appearances. While his stock has dwindled slightly, United have still regularly been linked with a £50m move for the Irishman.

Ex-United hitman Welbeck is still a huge admirer of the forward. The former England international, who has played with some of the best players in England over the course of his career, talked up the Irishman by branding him a 'predator in the box'.

Welbeck said: "Evan was unfortunate with injuries last season. It was one of them where once he gets his games this season, I’m pretty sure he will be just as lethal as he was when he came into the side.

"He’s a predator in the box and there’s not many like him around. He’s big and strong, but he’s agile and lethal in the box. I’m looking forward to seeing him back on the pitch and, obviously, we’ve got a lot of new players that have come into the side."

United have already to Rasmus Hojlund - who is currently injured - and Joshua Zirkzee as their strike options this season but they will no doubt have liked what their ex-striker Welbeck had to say about Ferguson as Erik ten Hag continues to weigh up a transfer move for him.

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2024-08-21T15:07:30Z dg43tfdfdgfd