Sir Jim Ratcliffe holds face-to-face talks with Amanda Staveley over Dan Ashworth’s move

Newcastle are trying to prevent Dan Ashworth from moving on and bettering his career. It’s a sad state of affairs but it’s no surprise that a state-owned football club lacks morals.

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has held face-to-face talks with Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley in an attempt to bring Dan Ashworth as sporting director to Old Trafford, according to The Times.

The two Premier League clubs have been locked in a stalemate over Ashworth, with Newcastle placing their sporting director on 18 months of gardening leave unless United come up with a compensation package worth approximately £15 million.

United are right to sit on this one because Newcastle are demanding a ridiculous fee, and it’s not something that has ever been paid for a sporting director in the past. So, why now? That is likely to be Ratcliffe’s stance but Newcastle will remain stubborn until they get what they want, even if it is unfair to Ashworth, who served them well.

Ratcliffe has described the situation as “completely stupid” and I couldn’t agree with him more.

It is understood the meeting between Ratcliffe and Staveley took place within the last week and negotiations are continuing. Southampton’s director of football Jason Wilcox has also agreed to a move to United, however, his arrival is similarly being delayed until a compensation package can be agreed upon with the Championship side.

Surely it’s only a matter of time before the Ashworth situation is solved. It’s an important acquisition and Ratcliffe won’t want it dragging into next season when the ideal time to get him in would be this summer.

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