What those who have worked with Dan Ashworth now say is being over exaggerated about him at Newcastle

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Those who have previously worked with Newcastle United’s director Dan Ashworth believe something has been over exaggerated about his role in football.

Newcastle’s new owners were very keen to bring Ashworth in from Brighton to lead the club into this new era after the great work he did for the Seagulls and for England.

Now, a new report from The Athletic has shared that colleagues of Ashworth believe his role at Newcastle has been over exaggerated and that he is really there to negotiate deals rather than scout talent.

Ashworth hasn’t been Newcastle’s main scout for new players

There’s been a lot of speculation from supporters about what it is that Ashworth does at Newcastle and while he will be involved in the addition of first-team players, it is not solely his responsibility to seek them out.

Ashworth has been developing a lot of things behind the scenes including building a team of some of the best scouts in the country to find young talent who Newcastle can bring through the academy.

For example, Ashworth was not the one identifying Garang Kuol or Yankuba Minteh for Newcastle, but he did bring in Paul Midgley as head of youth recruitment and Marcel Bout as a new scout.

The 52-year-old was also key in integrating the women’s team with the football club, overseeing the upgrade of the training ground and searching for a site where they can build their new training complex.

Newcastle can continue their long-term progress

While it looks likely that Manchester United are going to make a bid soon for Ashworth, that doesn’t mean that the club needs to come to a standstill and stop any progress being made.

There have been players, managers and backroom staff that have come and gone to Newcastle’s disappointment and the club will always continue to go on.

It would be a big blow to lose someone like Ashworth who has all the experience and know how to drive a team to the top, but there are still ways of getting there without him.

What will be ideal for Newcastle if they do lose the director is to quickly find a replacement who suits what they want to do and avoid any long-term problems.