Even by the usual standards, things are moving very quickly at Manchester United right now.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been described as a ‘man in a hurry’ as the billionaire and his INEOS aides look to shake up the power structure at Old Trafford.

It doesn’t take an INEOS root and branch review to realise that recruitment is one major area where United have been failing in the past decade.

Since Ferguson retired in 2013, the club’s hierarchy tend to have prioritised headline-grabbing and eye-wateringly expensive signings in a vain effort to keep pace with their rivals.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been described as ‘a man in a hurry’ as he shakes up things at Man United

There is hope players like Rasmus Hojlund (left), Alejandro Garnacho (middle) and Kobbie Mainoo (right) can help return United to former glories 

Ratcliffe and INEOS director of sport Sir David Brailsford talks with United boss Erik ten Hag

But despite bringing in the likes of Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Cristiano Ronaldo for enormous transfer fees and/or wages, United have just drifted along in mediocrity.

Ratcliffe wants to change the culture, focusing on recruits who are ideally British and who fit into a longer-term plan for success rather than being quick fixes.

In so doing, he’ll hope United can make up the ground they have ceded to the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, whose recruitment has coherence and direction.

To accomplish this, Ratcliffe and INEOS want best-in-class appointments in influential positions.

They’ve already pulled off one coup in poaching the highly-regarded Omar Berrada from rivals City to become their new chief executive. But fans will be more interested in the recruitment side.

If United get their way, it looks like Dan Ashworth will come in as sporting director, with Jason Wilcox and Sam Jewell reporting in to him in an overhauled scouting and recruitment department.

Getting Ashworth, 52, who is currently Newcastle’s sporting director would undoubtedly be another impressive appointment by the new United regime.

As Mail Sport reported earlier this week, Ashworth is keen to take on the challenge and an agreement could soon be reached, smoothed by the fact Newcastle’s Saudi owners haven’t given him the broad remit he anticipated.

That wouldn’t be an issue at Old Trafford, where Ashworth would immediately be planning ahead for the summer transfer window as well as revamping how things are done.

Ratcliffe has already pulled off one coup by poaching chief executive Omar Berrada from City

Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth is the next target to become the new sporting director 

Ashworth’s track record offers promise – when the Football Association’s director of elite development, he helped create the ‘England DNA’ pathway from the youth ranks to the senior side.

While it was scoffed at in some quarters as a mere gimmick, the progress of both the England men’s and women’s teams in recent years shows it has paid off.

This summer, Gareth Southgate’s men’s side will be among the Euro 2024 favourites thanks to a young core which includes Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden.

As Brighton’s technical director, Ashworth pulled off some outstanding pieces of business thanks to an extensive scouting network.

Alexis Mac Allister, Leandro Trossard, Moises Caicedo and Marc Cucurella were among relatively cheap signings sold on to bigger clubs at big profits.

Caicedo was a gem unearthed in his native Ecuador and signed by Brighton for just £4.5m. After just one full season of Premier League football, Chelsea paid £115m for the midfielder.

Moises Caicedo was bought by Brighton for just £4.5m and sold to Chelsea for £115m 

The signing of Marc Cucurella also delivered a handsome profit for the south coast club

At Newcastle, Ashworth helped Eddie Howe assemble a side that qualified for the Champions League this season, albeit on a much larger budget than at the Amex Stadium.

If he comes to Old Trafford, Ashworth would not only have a similar amount of money to spend but greater control over the recruitment department, even if INEOS personnel would want a say.

The firm’s CEO Jean-Claude Blanc and director of sport Sir David Brailsford are joining United’s board – as is Berrada.

Wilcox, 52, also comes with a strong reputation and is presently the director of football at Championship promotion chasers Southampton.

As a player, the winger won the Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers in 1995 and won three England caps.

He spent nine years working in Manchester City’s academy, guiding their under-18 team to two FA Youth Cups finals before becoming academy director at the Etihad Campus.

The fact Wilcox helped with the development of Foden, Rico Lewis, Oscar Bobb and Cole Palmer – now at Chelsea – would not have gone unnoticed across town at Old Trafford.

United are rightly proud of their track record of academy graduates making the first-team – Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo the latest examples – but Wilcox has been working as director of football at Southampton since last summer.

Saints’ owners Sport Republic aimed to replicate as many aspects of the City Group model at the Etihad as possible to regain their Premier League status and remain there.

While coach Russell Martin has crafted a City-esque playing style and Southampton look set to fight it out with Leeds and Ipswich for the second automatic promotion slot, Wilcox’s brief has been far wider than just creating a pathway from the academy.

Jason Wilcox, who headed up Manchester City’s academy for several years, is a target 

Director of football Wilcox welcomes Joe Rothwell to Southampton in the January window 

His first task was to modernise everything behind the scenes at St Mary’s using the expertise gained working for City.

There has been a clarity in the power structure, with Martin answering to Wilcox, who leads the recruitment and scouting department.

Transfer targets have to fit a certain remit, which sounds quite similar to what is going to happen at United.

While Southampton could be heading back to the top-flight, the allure of United and the potential chance to work with Ashworth will no doubt be strong for Wilcox, despite his City connections.

It’s possible he may arrive ahead of Ashworth but no doubt their remits will be clearly defined.

The other piece of the puzzle could be Jewell, the soon former Premier League boss Paul Jewell, and currently the head of recruitment at Brighton.

Reports this week say United want Jewell to come in and form part of Ashworth’s team, which has prompted his other suitor, Chelsea, to step up their pursuit.

Sam Jewell, who is head of recruitment at Brighton, is also reportedly wanted by United 

He became Brighton’s head of recruitment in November after his former boss Paul Winstanley went to Chelsea and impressed coach Roberto De Zerbi with some astute summer signings.

‘He’s very young, but he has a big talent, big passion. He knows all players in the world… like me!’ De Zerbi said about Jewell in an Athletic interview.

Having joined Brighton initially in 2016, Jewell is said to have been heavily involved in the deals for Mac Allister and Caicedo, working with Ashworth.

Impressively, Jewell taught himself Spanish during the Covid pandemic, boosting Brighton’s recruitment potential in Latin America.

Ratcliffe shares a joke with Sir Alex Ferguson while watching a recent match at Old Trafford

He is a largely unheralded part of why Brighton are now held up as a model of sensible transfer business.

A move to either United or Chelsea would come with greater scrutiny but Jewell would be working with people he already knows from Brighton.

If INEOS succeed in getting this new team in place, United’s dealings in the transfer market should certainly improve.