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Manchester United reportedly paid a £10m fee to secure the services of Dan Ashworth from Newcastle United.
Earlier this week, United and Newcastle issued a joint statement confirming Ashworth’s arrival at Old Trafford to assume a maiden sporting director role.
United’s pursuit of Ashworth started in February after Sir Jim Ratcliffe completed his partial investment into the club.
At that time, the Red Devils contacted Newcastle for their executive, who expressed his desire to join Ratcliffe’s project. Subsequently, Newcastle placed the 53-year-old on immediate gardening leave. Negotiations between both clubs to find a compromise were largely unproductive.
Newcastle initially demanded an unrealistic compensation package worth up to £20 million to allow Ashworth to start work at United immediately. INEOS, however, was not willing to pay such a sum for non-playing personnel.
A previous report mentioned that Newcastle reduced their asking price to £15 million plus add-ons, but United was only willing to offer £3 million.
To resolve the stalemate, Ashworth was even prepared to take his employers to arbitration.
In their joint statement, United and Newcastle stated that the terms of Ashworth’s release would remain undisclosed.
However, according to Matt Hughes of i news, “An acrimonious and potentially costly legal battle with Manchester United over Dan Ashworth has been settled, with Newcastle receiving compensation of £10m for their former sporting director. And in a surprise announcement on Thursday the club confirmed the appointment of high-calibre replacement Paul Mitchell, who has not cost them a penny beyond wages.”
“Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian owners set the tone in their response to Ashworth’s desire to move, and as a result have become more involved in other areas of the football business, particularly Mitchell’s appointment. Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan was adamant that Ashworth would only be allowed to leave on Newcastle’s terms, as he felt personally affronted by the former FA technical director’s professions of ignorance, a feeling exacerbated by what he regarded as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s insulting first compensation offer of £2m.”
“An attempt by Ratcliffe to smooth things over by courting Newcastle director Amanda Staveley in April was given short shrift by her employers, who made it clear Ashworth would only be allowed to leave when they received a suitable offer, which finally arrived last Sunday.”
With Ashworth now firmly in place, United are likely to accelerate their transfer movements and activities in the market.
At the moment, the 20-time English champions seem to be primarily focused on sealing deals for Dutch duo Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt. Both are currently with the Netherlands national team ahead of their Euro 2024 quarter-final clash vs. Turkiye.
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