Devils seeing Red – but if they want Ashworth they must pay
ENTITLED RATCLIFFE EXPECTS UNITED TO CAVE IN
“IT’S a bit silly.” Was anyone even surprised when Sir Jim Ratcliffe uttered those four words about Newcastle United’s demands?
There has been an arrogance about Manchester United’s pursuit of Dan Ashworth from the start.
Newcastle should simply step aside and let the Red Devils take the sporting director they are seemingly entitled to. Apparently.
After all, even Manchester City were willing to have a ‘grown-up conversation’ when their bitter rivals came calling for chief financial officer Omar Berrada.
However, this is a different situation. Manchester United have not gone through the front door as it were – interest leaked long before Ashworth asked Newcastle to leave at the weekend – and Sir Jim (right) has since spoken about ‘one of the top sporting directors in the world’ being ‘interested’ in Manchester United. “He would be a very good addition,” he brazenly added on Wednesday.
There are enough robots in football, particularly at the top, but you could not help but laugh when Sir Jim said that he ‘won’t get dragged’ into Newcastle’s £20m asking price before declaring in his next breath that it was ‘absurd’ that Ashworth could ‘sit in his garden for one-anda-half years.’ The Manchester United part-owner even went on to suggest ‘that’s not the way the UK works or the law works.’
Yet the fact remains this notice period was part of the contract Ashworth signed with Newcastle in 2022. Just as Newcastle had to negotiate with Brighton to end Ashworth’s gardening leave early – an on-off process that took close to four months – so, too, do Manchester United.
It’s all rather simple: if Manchester
United want the sporting director to start sooner, they have to reach a settlement. That may seem a costly prospect but even Gary Neville, who will be involved in INEOS’ plans to regenerate Old Trafford, rightly pointed out that paying an eight-figure sum now would mean ‘you might not end up blowing another £100m on poor moves in the next window.’
However, Manchester United, like Newcastle in those crucial tone-setting months of the new ownership, do not want to be seen as pushovers who are willing to cave, particularly with the club’s own profit and sustainability concerns, and there is a lot of pride at stake here. Those coming in at Manchester United want to turn a new page, following years of illadvised spending, but, equally, Newcastle do not wish to be bullied into releasing Ashworth for a fee well below their valuation – even if that means essentially having to pay a member of staff not to work. “We’re very protective of what’s ours, whether that’s players or staff,” Eddie Howe warned last week. “If people do eventually move on to other clubs then there’s a process to go through before that is reality.”
That statement has been backed up to Manchester United’s apparent surprise at a time when Ashworth’s experience, contacts and knowledge are needed at Old Trafford. Sir Jim, after all, has talked openly about his plans to return Manchester United to the top in just ‘two or three seasons.’ However, if Manchester United are unable to reach a breakthrough with Newcastle, their coveted builder will be sidelined for the best part of two years.
When you consider that one of the first things Ashworth is likely to do when he walks through the door is conduct a lengthy audit, to review what’s working and what’s not, Manchester United need the 52-year-old sooner rather than later, especially after Sir Jim admitted the structure at the club was ‘not good.’
That may yet play into Newcastle’s hands.