News emerged last night that Newcastle United are looking to make it as difficult as possible for Man United to poach Dan Ashworth from them.
The Magpies are understood to be demanding a fee of around £20m for the director who has now been placed on gardening leave and could be for the next 20 months, meaning he wouldn’t work for Man United until 2026.
Journalist Luke Edwards has shared on social media that the Red Devils are ‘adamant’ that they will not be forced to pay the full £20m and that negotiations will keep going for the foreseeable future.
Newcastle hold all the cards in Ashworth negotiations
Realistically, Newcastle don’t necessarily have a reason to lower their price for Ashworth who was expected to be at the club for the long-term given the nature of his job.
They would obviously loved to who have kept him, but as soon as the 52-year-old made it clear that he wanted to join Man United then Newcastle had to do what was best to protect themselves.
£20m is an unbelievable amount of money for a Sporting Director, but it’s a fee that Newcastle can ask for if their Premier League rivals are so desperate to bring him in under their new ownership.
It certainly makes a change that Newcastle are now the ones with the power and, unlike in years gone by, can no longer be bullied into lowering their price to suit Man United’s needs.
On social media, Edwards said: “It will drag on for ages. Manchester United adamant they won’t pay £20m. So you will see reports saying compensation will be less but as things stand the first window Ashworth will be able to be involved in is January 2026. Good luck to both sides in the negotiations.”
Newcastle’s next steps are huge
There have already been a couple of names linked with replacing Ashworth at Newcastle including Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards, though it looks like it may be a new name that they hire.
For the owners it will be so important that whoever they bring in has a similar sort of vision as Ashworth and is keen to continue the work that he had started over the last two years.
The director was key in helping to find a location for the new training complex for the men, women and academy as well as hiring and organising a new scouting team to recruit the best young stars from around the world.
It may also be very important to maximise their profits from losing Ashworth and reinvesting that back into the club at the earliest opportunity.
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