Exclusive: Newcastle man is now likely to leave, the club aren’t denying it

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Newcastle United worked so hard to bring Dan Ashworth to Tyneside, and now there is a chance they could lose him.

The Magpies poached Dan Ashworth from Brighton And Hove Albion in 2022, becoming the club’s Sporting Director. It was a huge coup to bring him to St James’ Park, but his position in the North East is suddenly in doubt.

That is because the former FA chief is a target for Manchester United following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s partial takeover of the Red Devils. It will cost a lot of money to take him to Old Trafford, but Man United do have an ace up their sleeve in Dave Brailsford.

He is working alongside Ratcliffe, and is a close friend on Dan Ashworth. Brailsford is very keen to get the 52-year-old to swap the North East for the North West, while there have been mixed messages about the possibility of Ashworth calling it a day with Newcastle United.

There has been fear that he will leave the Magpies, which is a view shared by HITC Football insider Graeme Bailey. He has spoke to Geordie Boot Boys about Ashworth’s future, and believes that Newcastle are already sounding out potential replacements if the worst were to happen.

Newcastle will ‘do well’ to stop Dan Ashworth joining Manchester United

“I’d say it’s 60-40 that Ashworth goes to Manchester United, if not more,” he said.

“The club have not played this down at all. He’ll actually probably get more control at Man United under Sir Jim Ratcliffe than he does now at Newcastle.

“If it was just a straight up offer from Man United, I’m not sure it would be enough. But the fact that it’s coming from Dave Brailsford and Sir Jim Ratfcliffe, I think a lot of boxes are being ticked there. I think Newcastle will be doing very well to keep Dan Ashworth.

“My understanding is that they’re doing their due diligence on possible replacements. We’ve seen Phil Giles from Brentford linked, who is a Geordie.

“But Newcastle doing their due diligence on replacements isn’t them accepting that Ashworth is going, it’s just doing the right thing.

“I think, as it stands, there is a strong chance that Ashworth departs for Manchester United.”