MANCHESTER UNITED REACH AGREEMENT WITH NEWCASTLE UNITED OVER SPORTING DIRECTOR DAN ASHWORTH
After more than four months of back and forth negotiations, Manchester United have finally reached an agreement with Newcastle United to appoint Dan Ashworth as the club’s new sporting director, as first reported by The Athletic’s David Ornstein.
Ashworth was placed on gardening leave by Newcastle United in February upon learning of the 53-year-old’s desire to join the Manchester club. The Tyneside club have taken a tough stance in negotiations ever since with Manchester United’s minority owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, alleging in recent months that Newcastle were being difficult over the situation.
Newcastle initially demanded £20 million worth of compensation for Ashworth, a fee United were not ready to pay out, hence the drag in negotiations. A former non-league player in his youth, Ashworth has a decorated resume, having previously worked at the English FA as a director of elite development – where he helped “create winning senior teams” in both the men’s and the women’s game between 2012 & 2018 – and as a technical director at both West Bromwich Albion and Brighton.
United initially offered Newcastle £2 million as compensation for Ashworth and the dispute looked like it was headed for arbitration before an unlikely out-of-court settlement was reached over the weekend. Neither United nor Newcastle disclosed the details of the settlement and the agreed upon amount in compensation.
Ashworth was initially shortlisted as a candidate for the technical director job at Manchester United in 2018 and now after six years will start his new job as sporting director at Old Trafford with immediate effect, as announced by the club.
“I think Dan Ashworth is clearly one of the top sporting directors in the world,” said Manchester United new minority owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe in the midst of deadlock negotiations with Newcastle in April. “I have no doubt, he’s a very capable person. He is interested in the Manchester United job in the world just now, with the biggest challenge. We’ve obviously had words with Newcastle. They would clearly be disappointed to lose Dan.”
A compromise between the two Premier League clubs not only means Manchester United get their man but also helps Newcastle comply with the league’s profitability and sustainability regulations before Sunday night’s deadline, which came at the end of the latest three-year PSR cycle.
Premier League clubs are not allowed to have a loss of £105 million or more over a three-season period, a figure that Newcastle United tried to balance over the weekend with the sales of Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest and Yankuba Minteh to Brighton for a collective figure of £70 million. Failure to comply with the league’s PSR rules would lead to a nightmare points deduction, a bug that bit Merseyside club Everton last season.
United’s acquisition of Dan Ashworth, the new minority owners believe, not only sets the club up for long-term improvement in recruitment but also helps strengthen the structure above manager Erik ten Hag and provides stability to the organization. United decided to retain ten Hag earlier last month following the club’s FA Cup success in May and are currently working on a new long-term contract extension for the Dutchman.
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe was a close colleague of Ashworth’s during his time in the North East and always spoke highly of the club executive in his press conferences. “I have now got Dan’s experience, which has been invaluable,” said Howe. “He has made a real impact in all aspects of the club in such a short space of time. However, he is not just looking at recruitment, he is looking at every aspect of the club from to bottom, using his experience to try and improve what we deliver.”
“I can’t speak highly enough of him, as he has been a big help on the transfer front. He has got really good contacts in the game.”
Ashworth is expected to work closely with Manchester United’s new executives Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox, who the club hired recently as part of their new hierarchy. Ashworth himself will report to Sir Dave Brailsford, who Ratcliffe tasked with undertaking a review of United’s football operations.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
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