Adam Ashgar is expected to join league rival Southampton after leaving Sunderland.
The 29-year-old coach is about to go from the red and white stripes of the north coast to the red and white stripes of the south coast, according to the Sunderland Echo.
Ashgar is the Black Cats’ under-18 team’s head coach at the moment. After a tight, competitive season between his team and Manchester City, he led them to a second-place league finish last year, just behind them.
It won’t be a simple matter of the 29-year-old switching one bunch of under-18s for another. According to The Echo, he will be appointed head coach of Southampton’s under-21 team.
Adam Ashgar: Who is he?
The youthful coaching prospect has not yet had any effects on England’s premier teams. But four years before to joining Sunderland, his father, Tony Ashgar, who was the club’s sporting director, was the head of performance at Dundee United, one of Scotland’s top clubs.
He played professionally before he began his coaching career. He played for various Scottish clubs over his seven-year career, including Motherwell, Annan Athletic, and Alloa Athletic.
Southampton has made additional attempts to sign Sunderland players.
Ross Stewart, Sunderland’s standout striker, had previously been widely linked to the Saints. Alan Nixon had claimed that Southampton, along with other Championship teams like Middlesbrough and Stoke City, were not just competing for Stewart but also in the lead to sign him.
Despite this, it was later revealed by the Football Insider that Southampton had abandoned its pursuit of him in favor of pursuing other targets.
Russel Martin’s team did hire Darren Mowbray, the brother of Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray, to the club as their new head of recruitment earlier in the summer. Mowbray transferred from Scottish Premiership team Aberdeen, where he also served as head of recruitment, to the newly promoted second-tier group.
Summer sales in Southampton thus far
The Saints have been among the more busy EFL teams in the summer transfer window, both on the field and in the front offices. They have continued their youthful recruitment under Mowbray in addition to the arrival of Ashgar.
Earlier in the transfer window, they acquired Shea Charles, a 19-year-old defensive midfielder from Manchester City. But with the arrivals of left-back Ryan Manning and goalkeeper Joe Lumley, they have also gained Championship caliber and experience.
They haven’t just been in the lead when it comes to hiring; they have also dominated the news when it comes to their sales. Even with the agreement negotiated between the club and Chelsea for former Man City midfielder Romeo Lavia, they have already made close to £90 million from player sales.
The Saints will receive close to £60 million from that sale once it becomes official, which is expected to happen very shortly.
Mowbray seems to be doing particularly well in his new position down south, and Ashgar appears poised to follow suit. The club appears to be constructing for the future, and with the money they have made, they appear to be in a good position to do so.