Alan Shearer has now shared what he thinks about Dan Ashworth leaving Newcastle United to join Man United.
Newcastle announced that their Sporting Director was placed on gardening leave on Monday and now negotiations between the clubs will begin as Man United refuse to pay the £20m compensation fee.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer shared that he thinks the two clubs will eventually come to an agreement on the fee but that Ashworth’s work for Man United will have already begun.
Shearer thinks Newcastle will compromise on Ashworth fee
At the moment, Newcastle are standing firm on their stance when it comes to Ashworth as they are very disappointed after believing that he would be the man to lead this club into a successful era.
It is the Magpies who currently hold all the power as they have the option to demand even more money from Man United if they wanted to or keep Ashworth on gardening leave for 20 months.
That would mean that the 52-year-old would not be able to begin his work until the end of 2025 with his first transfer window at Old Trafford being January 2026.
However, Shearer claims that ‘we’re not naïve’ and suggested that Ashworth’s work for Man United will have already started behind the scenes despite Newcastle’s gardening leave.
On the podcast, Lineker said: “It’s an interesting story. Well Alan, he’s at your club at the moment, he’s had quite a successful career in the area of the directing of football clubs, the director of football role hasn’t he?”
Shearer then responded: “Well, he’s had a really good career when you look at what he did at Brighton, what he did with England.
“Newcastle did that to Brighton in terms of they wanted him badly at the football club, he had to go on gardening leave at Brighton before he could then take over at Newcastle.
“But, we’re not naïve enough to think that once someone goes on gardening leave that they’re not working for that other football club.
“My guess is that a compromise will be had, they’ll pay a fee, how much that will be I’m not quite sure but he’s done a really good job at Newcastle.
“But when you think about what he knows in terms of player’s contracts, clauses in their contracts, who Newcastle might have to sell, who they want to buy. I mean, he’s taking all that info with him to another football club.
“So, yeah it’s a tough one, but it is what it is. If you do well at your job somebody’s going to come in and try and poach you and nick you. I mean they’re a huge football club and they’re going to go on to bigger and better things under this new ownership model that they’ve got.
“It’ll be sorted out one way or another, he’ll eventually leave and Manchester United will pay a fee and Newcastle will get someone in to do that job.”
Geordie can cope without Ashworth
The media are depicting Ashworth’s departure as this huge blow which Newcastle will struggle to recover from, but that is far from the truth as the club continue with their long-term project.
Of course, Ashworth is brilliant at his job and he’s been headhunted by several clubs for a reason, but he isn’t the only man in the world capable of doing his job to a good enough level.
Newcastle have already started their search for a new director and it’s not like it was five or so years ago where they’d be looking for the cheapest and easiest option, they’ve got the funds now to hire the most suitable and impressive candidate.
Whoever it is will likely have a lot of experience in the field and be more than good enough to take over from Ashworth in the coming months.
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