Manchester United baulk at £20m fee for Newcastle director Dan Ashworth

Newcastle has put Dan Ashworth on gardening leave as he has made it clear to the St James' Park authorities that he wants to switch to Manchester United. This has instigated negotiations between the two teams, with Newcastle aiming to receive £20m as reimbursement.

Ashworth has held the position of sporting director at St James' Park for a mere 20 months and the majority owners of Newcastle, who happen to be Saudi Arabian, are unwilling to release him at a low cost or without a struggle since they had previously swiped him from Brighton.

At first, the expectation was that they would require payment of £10 million to compensate for the ex-technical director of the Football Association, who is 52 years old. If Manchester United was interested in hiring Ashworth in the upcoming year, the amount of compensation would increase.

It is known that they are trying to obtain a total of £20 million. In case he doesn't receive compensation, Ashworth's agreement reportedly has terms that would prohibit him from starting a new job until the beginning of 2026.

Manchester United is yet to officially approach Ashworth, but they have made it known that they are not willing to pay the reported £20m fee and will attempt to negotiate a much lower figure. Newcastle will have to cover their former sporting director's full salary during his leave, which gives Manchester United an advantage in negotiations. It is predicted that legal experts will assist in finding a suitable agreement for both parties.

Newcastle's manager, Eddie Howe, was worried that Dan Ashworth might give Manchester United confidential information about the recruitment plans of the Tyneside team. Ashworth wasn't a close ally of Howe, and he never got involved in the Newcastle's manager's concerns. On Friday, Howe said that Ashworth didn't change anything essential.

Howe stated that he did not talk to Ashworth on Saturday, even though Ashworth was at St James' Park for Newcastle's 2-2 game with Bournemouth. Ashworth has apparently been wanting to move to Old Trafford but didn't tell Newcastle until he received assurances that the long "gardening leave" clause and the high compensation demands in his contract wouldn't stop the Old Trafford board from hiring him.