Newcastle United are waving goodbye to Dan Ashworth, but will not make it easy for Manchester United.
The 52-year-old has been placed on gardening leave, having made it clear to Newcastle United that he would like to make the move.
Dan Ashworth‘s decision is understandable, but what has angered Toon officials is how Man United have gone about this. It has been played out through the media, and now you have got Jim Ratcliffe twisting about compensation.
Newcastle want a compensation package of £20million, otherwise Ashworth will remain on gardening leave until early 2026.
That figure has been branded ‘silly’ by Ratcliffe, who is seemingly short of cash after spending more than £1billion on just a quarter of Man United…
It will be interesting to see how much compensation Man United eventually do pay for Ashworth, and Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has admitted that he thinks Newcastle’s demands are excessive.
Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth demand branded ‘ridiculous’
MacAnthony has been speaking on the Hard Truth podcast, and stated that he thinks Newcastle’s demand of £20million for Ashworth is ‘ridiculous’.
“£20million for a non-football player is ridiculous in my opinion,” he said.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous. It comes down to contract law in my opinion.
“I have had people come for some of my staff and I have said can we not ask for money and I’ve been told not really, this could get messy, just let them go.
“I see things like this and I’m like wow. If he is on £3million or £4million salary and he has six months left or a year and a half left, usually that’s the cost of buying him out if he wanted to leave so I think what Newcastle have to do is show some common sense here. You are going to have a person on gardening leave, you are going to have to hire somebody else and you are going to have all that aggro. The same with Man United.
“As long as Newcastle are sensible, and what is a sensible fee, I don’t even think £5million should be a fee. These aren’t playing assets, these are technical directors.”
Newcastle and Manchester United need to reach a compromise
£20million is a lot of money for a football club to pay for someone who isn’t going to kick a ball. In comparison, that is similar to the fee we paid for Miguel Almiron five years ago, which was a club record deal.
You have to imagine a compromise will be reached. There is no chance Man United are going to pay that amount, but they have made it clear that they want Ashworth. And they will want him to start work as soon as possible.
It will be interesting to see how high Man United go, but Newcastle will not make it easy for them. They are set to lose a hugely important figure behind the scenes, and will not forget what the Red Devils demanded of them two years ago when they tried to sign Jesse Lingard.
Common sense will prevail, but Newcastle certainly will not sell themselves short.
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