Alan Pardew believes Newcastle United will have one big problem when they eventually lose Dan Ashworth to Manchester United.
Newcastle placed their Sporting Director on gardening leave earlier this week after he made it known that he wants to join Man United and their new investors.
Speaking on talkSPORT, former Newcastle manager Pardew claimed that Newcastle will have a ‘problem’ with Ashworth taking their secrets over to a rival Premier League club.
Losing Ashworth will be huge blow for Newcastle
Not only are Newcastle losing one of the best sporting directors in the business as proven by his previous track record at Brighton, England and West Brom, their rivals are gaining a big asset.
Both this season and last Newcastle have been in direct competition with Man United for a European spot with the Red Devils finishing third last year while Newcastle finished fourth.
Now, they are currently still in the running for top four but more likely expected to be in and around the Europa league spots, so giving them an advantage in Ashworth is the last thing they will want to do.
It’s not just his footballing knowledge and understanding of how a club should work that Newcastle are disappointed in, it’s also the fact that Ashworth can now go and share their secrets with his new employers, though perhaps not for another 20 months.
On the show, Pardew said: “Dan Ashworth. It’s a problem for Eddie Howe, they’ve put all these things in place and the ownership at Newcastle they’ve obviously got a plan, a five-year plan or whatever it is.
“All those secrets Dan knows and he’ll be taking them across the water.”
Newcastle are playing the long game
As Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s most recent comments suggests, Man United are already growing frustrated at the fact Newcastle won’t simply roll over and let them have Ashworth as soon as possible.
Newcastle have the ability to keep him on gardening leave for the next 20 months, meaning he would not be able to work on a transfer window until January 2026.
They could, of course, pay the £20m compensation fee, but Man United are reluctant to cave while Newcastle are clearly willing to play the long game instead of lowering their demands.
While those at Man United can complain how it’s not in the spirit of the game, Newcastle are finally acting like a big club and refusing to be pushed around and bullied like they have been in the past.
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