Steve Howey thinks he knows exactly why Dan Ashworth has decided to leave Newcastle United to take up a new role at Manchester United.
Newcastle announced yesterday that Ashworth would be placed on gardening leave meaning negotiations have now started between the two clubs to agree on the compensation fee rumoured to be £20m.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Football Show, former Newcastle man Howey has claimed that Ashworth has been promised a role with greater reign by new Man United investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Howey thinks Ashworth was frustrated at Newcastle
Ashworth was central to everything that goes on at Newcastle as the man who connects different areas of the club together to make sure they’re communicating with each other.
Too often in the past the likes of the medical team weren’t talking to the recruitment team for example and Ashworth was key in bringing everything together as well as developing the long-term future of the club.
However, Howey doesn’t think the 52-year-old was too happy at being excluded from certain meetings and not having enough control on the overall say of things that go on at the club.
It’s believed that Man United have offer him a greater role at the club where he would be able to have a much greater influence and that’s why Ashworth has decided to leave Newcastle.
On the show, Howey said: “It’s a blow. I think we all know the, for want of a better word, the hype around him. Everybody knows how good he is at what he does.
“Of course Newcastle went out and got him which is brilliant news but ultimately Man United have come in and lets be honest at the end of the day it is Manchester United.
“He obviously feels as though he’s getting more reign, I don’t know how much major input he had at Newcastle but he’s obviously had discussions with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and has been told what he can and can’t do.”
Losing Ashworth a ‘big blow’ for the Magpies
While some are not quite aware of what Ashworth has done during his short stay with Newcastle, Howey claimed that everybody within the sport can appreciate how good he is at his job.
That’s exactly why Newcastle had protected themselves so much with his contract meaning they can now demand £20m from Man United for his services or keep him on gardening leave for the next 20 months.
Amanda Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi and Jamie Reuben had identified Ashworth as the man to lead the club into its new era, and now with him leaving it feels like a bit of a step back for the first time since the takeover.
They are now fully focused on finding the right replacement, but the whole situation is far from ideal for Newcastle.
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