New Albion technical director Dan Ashworth on recruitment and producing young players

The longer-term aim of owner-chairman Tony Bloom is to take the club to the next level, amongst the group below the top six not persistently preoccupied with finishing 17th.

This is where Dan Ashworth comes in, to build on what has been started. Solid foundations have been laid, Albion hope Ashworth can help them develop a home in the Premier League, not just be tenants coming and going.

His appointment as the club's first technical director is a huge coup. In six years with the same job description at the FA, Ashworth was a driving force in the transformation of England's fortunes through the age groups.

He was one of the creators of the 'England DNA', an elite player development plan aimed at producing winning teams. During Ashworth's tenure, England's under-17s and under-20s won World Cups, the under-21s completed a hat-trick in the Toulon Tournament, the under-19s became European champions and Gareth Southgate's senior side exceeded expectations by reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup last summer.

Albion will be banking on some of that international stardust rubbing off as Ashworth, reportedly shortlisted as a candidate for the role of technical director at Manchester United, returns to the more regular "adrenaline rush" of club football, having spent a successful five years as sporting director at West Brom prior to his England posting.

Head of recruitment Paul Winstanley, academy chief John Morling, pathway development manager David Weir (below) and medical team leader Adam Brett will all report to Ashworth in his umbrella role, but he is not here to tear up a script that has worked well or to tread on toes, internally or with regard to his ex-employers.

That was a recurring theme throughout the first major interview about his brief at the Lancing training complex.

He said: "If the question is: 'Who makes the decision on transfers?', it’s been really clear here at Brighton, it's always been really clear from my previous role at West Brom, the manager has to have the final say on any player coming into the first team squad.

"If the manager doesn’t like, fancy, rate a player coming in then clearly the manager is not going to play them. There are a lot of people involved in a transfer from negotiating and buying, to agents’ fees, to player contracts but ultimately it’s got to be a player that Chris feels can help his team on a Saturday.

"Paul Winstanley's done a really good job - Paul and his team have recruited some players who've been good enough to get us into the Premier League, keep us there last year and hopefully keep us there again this year."

Ashworth, with the blessing of the FA to ensure a smooth transition, was working with Albion two days a week throughout the January transfer window, although not directly involved in the recruitment process.

Young England striker prospect Dominic Solanke was a target before joining Bournemouth from Liverpool, while 20-year-old Argentinian attacking midfielder Alexis Mac Allister was purchased with an eye to the future.

There will be no conflict of interest as far as Ashworth is concerned arising from his previous post and no strategical change in Albion's global policy of player sourcing.

He said: "England were my employer and I did my best for England during those six years and never had a conflict of interest.

"It's like Roy Hodgson leaving and becoming Crystal Palace manager. Is he not supposed to sign any other English players? I don't think there’s a conflict at all.

"If we do try and sign any players whether on loan or permanently we go through the normal and correct channels we would do if I hadn't worked with England.

"You have to do what's right for the club and where you think you can get the best value. The Premier League is attractive to the whole world and people want to come and play in it.

"If you can get better value from somewhere else in the world that is not necessarily within Europe or home shores then that's what we have to do."

Ashworth will exploit his contacts, although his relationship with agents was different by nature in the England role and that aspect of the recruitment chain has altered since he left West Brom in 2012.

"I don't know that they've become any more or less powerful," he said. "What's happened is that they've been deregulated and more agents or intermediaries are out there.

"The relationship between an agent, club and player, the numbers have changed for sure, both in quantity of intermediaries, and the amount of money - even in six years.

"I've still been in touch with several of the agents through England so I still have a good relationship with them through England. I haven't cut my supply line of agents or intermediaries off at all, but obviously because we didn't buy players or do contracts my liaison with them was less than it will be in this role."

Beneath the first team, Ashworth was an advocate of the Elite Player Performance Plan - designed to develop more and better home grown players - before his influence over England's fortunes.

He has a son in the academy at West Brom, another at Wolves, so he is uniquely placed to assess the system and the talent pool.

He said: "In my previous role (West Brom) I was one of the clubs who voted through EPPP. The rationale for EPPP is that it's doubled the contact time, increased the number of coaches, increased the qualifications needed to coach and increased the multidisciplinary staff that are there to support young players, so what's not to like about it?

"All of us would have talked about some bits and pieces that aren't right for every single player, but ultimately EPPP has been a massive benefit to young players in this country - and clubs, youth teams and certainly the national teams have reaped the benefits of that. So I do think there are super young talented players in this country."

Camera-shy Ashworth (above) will have unobtrusively settled into his role by the time his first transfer window as a fully fledged club employee comes around.

He is optimistic about where Albion will be in the summer. "We've got a really good manager, we've got good players, we were able to stay in the league from the outside looking in reasonably comfortably last year," he said.

"We are still in a good position, three points clear of the zone, with some important games to come that are certainly winnable.

"I think we're in good hands, we're in good shape, we've got a good squad and a good manager, so I'm confident we'll still be a Premier League club next year."