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Manchester United are aiming to have Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth in place as sporting director for September and consequently, hope he will only miss one transfer window.
INEOS have started their football restructuring in earnest with the appointment of CEO Omar Berrada from Manchester City.
Latest reports also suggest that the club is making good progress in recruiting Southampton director of football, Jason Wilcox.
However, the potential role of sporting director has received the most publicity in the media and that is all about the pursuit of a certain Dan Ashworth.
The Englishman is currently on gardening leave as he has agreed to join United, but there is still the issue of negotiating down Newcastle’s sky-high compensation figure, which some claim to be close to £20m.
It had been reported that progress was being made on a deal but The Athletic’s David Ornstein poured cold water on this notion by stating that according to his information, no significant developments had occurred and that the two sides were still locked in negotiations.
However, journalist Ben Jacobs has weighed in once again and offered more hope for United fans, still on a high from the pulsating 4-3 FA Cup victory against their bitter rivals, Liverpool.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT he claimed, “I think the main aim of Manchester United and Ratcliffe is to ensure that, in an ideal world, Ashworth only misses one window at worst. So, if they can get him for this summer, that would be great. But if they can’t, they’ll want him to start in September, so he’ll be well set to begin planning for 2025 and beyond”.
Elaborating further on the issue the journalist stated, “this is because deep down, despite all of the ambition and positivity, Ratcliffe, INEOS, and Man Utd’s old regime know that they won’t be able to fix everything overnight on the football side”.
“They’ve got a five-window plan, which includes three summers and two winters. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a disaster if Ashworth missed one summer window. But it would be much more frustrating for the project if he can’t start until after the 2025 winter transfer window. Talks are ongoing, and they are just about compensation”.
It has already been relayed by The Peoples Person that Newcastle’s major concern is the knowledge Ashworth has of their current transfer plans for the summer and the damage this may inflict on their summer hopes, were the sporting director to start his new role in June.
Both clubs have been heavily linked Amadou Onana for example and the Magpies will fear the in-depth knowledge Ashworth will clearly have of their summer plans falling into the hands of a direct rival.
United have also recently been linked to making a move for Newcastle icon, Bruno Guimarães, under Ashworth’s instruction.
In fact, it has been reported that one of the finer detail the two clubs are negotiating is a clause that would stop the Red Devils pursuing any Newcastle players this summer.
Should United back down on this issue, it would seem that the St James’ Park side would have their major concern removed so it would stand to reason that they might be more open to a deal for Ashworth to join United in September this year.
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