It’s been almost a month now since Dan Ashworth announced that he would be leaving Newcastle United to join Man United and was placed on gardening leave by the club.
Newcastle have still not appointed a new sporting director, though there have been a number of big names linked with the job in recent weeks.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Ben Jacobs has claimed that Newcastle are not panicking about the Ashworth situation and are likely to be acting swiftly to find the ideal replacement.
Newcastle not panicking about Ashworth departure
It was a huge blow to lose their sporting director who had been handpicked by the new owners two years ago as the best candidate for the job to see Newcastle into this new era.
However, things took a turn when Man United’s new investors showed an interest in the 52-year-old who simply couldn’t turn down a move to Old Trafford and announced his desire to leave, though Newcastle haven’t made it easy for him.
Ashworth has been placed on a 20-month long gardening leave unless Man United are willing pay £20m in compensation, meanwhile Newcastle’s search for a replacement goes on.
Jacobs does not believe that Newcastle are worried about that, however, and currently CEO Darren Eales will help Newcastle through to the summer while they act quickly to find someone to take over.
On Ashworth, Jacobs said: “At this stage, it’s about Newcastle effectively continuing the Ashworth plans. Just because he’s left, there’s still a summer plan in place for Newcastle, so there’s no panic about the void that he leaves as far as this summer.
“Darren Eales will be key to continuity for Newcastle between now and the summer. But I would have thought that Newcastle would also be moving very quickly as far as a sporting director is concerned.”
Newcastle have a long list of potential replacements
While most on this list of Ashworth replacements will not be disclosed, it’s certain that Newcastle are being very thorough in their search for a new director as they head into a busy summer window.
Former Roma man Tiago Pinto has been linked with the job and very recently announced that he’d be interested in making the move after leaving the Italian club where he worked closely with Jose Mourinho.
Other names like Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes have also been suggested, but it looks like the pair are now headed to Liverpool in the imminent future.
Paul Mitchell is another with experience in the Premier League so would be ideal, but ultimately we may not know who Newcastle have down as their number one target for a matter of weeks or months.
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