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It was widely reported that Dan Ashworth was going to ensure he could start working at Manchester United in time for the 2024 summer transfer window, with the outgoing Newcastle United Sporting Director set to have an arbitration hearing in May to produce a compromise agreement.
A compromise agreement that would see an amount of compensation agreed to be paid to Newcastle United for his release and in return, Manchester United getting their key appointment starting work more than a year and a half before Ashworth’s contractual gardening leave is scheduled to end (January 2026).
However, all that May 2024 brought, was further humiliation for Dan Ashworth and Manchester United.
With The Mail getting an exclusive (see below) on secret emails from and to Dan Ashworth, that exposed what he had been up to.
Today (5 June 2024) marks 107 days since Newcastle United announced (19 February 2024) they were putting Dan Ashworth on gardening leave.
So more than 15 weeks in limbo for Ashworth and indeed Man U.
Today seeing The Express report that their information is that Manchester United are getting ever more frustrated because their summer transfer plans are being hindered by Newcastle’s reluctance to allow Man U to walk all over them, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and much of the Man U fanbase appears to arrogantly think is how things should always work.
The outcome is of course all in Manchester United’s hands, they need to make an acceptable proposal to Newcastle United, with in return them getting an agreed start date for Dan Ashworth.
To me, it was always going to be the case of zero chance Newcastle United would allow Dan Ashworth to start work in time to influence this summer 2024 transfer window, especially when NUFC are yet to reach agreement and announce their replacement. So what Manchester United need to be doing is putting forward an acceptable amount of compensation, that will then allow Dan Ashworth to start work at an agreed date beyond this summer window.
In the meantime though, plenty of Newcastle United fans getting a level of satisfaction at the passing of each additional day, when Manchester United and Dan Ashworth are not getting what they are demanding.
The Mag report – 23 May 2024:
This just gets ever more embarrassing for Dan Ashworth and Manchester United.
This follow up report from The Mail on Wednesday night (22 May 2024).
It was just over 13 weeks ago on 19 February 2024 that Newcastle United officially announced that Dan Ashworth had been put on gardening leave, after he made clear he was insistent on working at Manchester United instead.
On Tuesday, the initial exclusive from The Mail had seen them report the existence of emails that Dan Ashworth blundered with, back in early February 2024, before he informed Newcastle United he was wanting to leave.
That report said Ashworth also sent a copy of this series of emails to his own official Newcastle United email account, which meant the club discovered what he was up to, in terms of wanting to join Manchester United, as well as potentially breaking confidentiality regarding both Brighton and Newcastle United with other comments in the email exchange.
Now in this follow up exclusive (see below), The Mail reporting how Dan Ashworth tried to bury the blunder by deleting the email trail that revealed secret talks with Man U.
Dan Ashworth then reported to have tried to blame Eddie Howe for making his Newcastle United job impossible to carry on due to his (Howe’s) later comments. However, ‘sadly’ for Dan Ashworth, the dates of what happened and when, not exactly backing this up…
The Mail report – 22 May 2024:
‘Dan Ashworth tried to cover his tracks by deleting the email he sent to his Newcastle account revealing secret talks with Manchester United – and then claimed comments by Eddie Howe had made his position untenable.
Mail Sport reported on Tuesday how Newcastle’s sporting director sent an email in early February to Omar Berrada – the incoming Man United chief executive – in which he made it clear he wanted to accept the offer of the same role at Old Trafford.
However, Ashworth sent a blind copy to his Newcastle email address before apparently realising the error and deleting the evidence. At this stage, Man United had not approached Newcastle and Ashworth had not informed his employers of the clandestine talks with a rival.
The subsequent discovery of the email by the club is embarrassing for Ashworth and Berrada, who was still on gardening leave from Manchester City. It could lead to a Premier League probe if a complaint is made.
In a further twist, we understand Ashworth then claimed comments made by Howe had made his position untenable. However, this was in relation to comments made by the head coach on February 16, one week after the secret exchange with Berrada that Ashworth thought he had erased.
The story had broken about Ashworth being ready to defect to Man United and Howe was asked for his thoughts in a press conference.
He agreed with the suggestion it was a concern that Ashworth still had access to Newcastle’s transfer plans and financial information, and called for a swift resolution to the situation.
Ashworth believed this left him unable to work for the club. In reality, he had already accepted an offer from Man United.’

 
