Newcastle United has placed Dan Ashworth on gardening leave following Manchester United’s interest in his services.
Alan Shearer admits it is only a matter of time before Dan Ashworth’s transfer to Manchester United is completed.
Newcastle United placed its sports director on gardening leave last week after he requested to quit the Magpies to become the Red Devils’ new transfer boss.
The two clubs must now negotiate a financial deal, with some reports claiming Newcastle is asking up to £20 million, before Ashworth can officially begin his new post at the fellow Premier League team.
Eddie Howe’s side would have preferred to avoid such a scenario, particularly losing the 52-year-old to a rival club, but Shearer has reiterated that all sides must move quickly and that he firmly expects a compromise to be reached to allow Ashworth to leave.
“He’s had a tremendously good career when you look at what he did at Brighton and with England. Newcastle did the same to Brighton in terms of wanting him strongly at the football club. “He had to take gardening leave at Brighton before taking over at Newcastle,” he explained on The Rest Is Football Podcast.
“We’re not foolish enough to believe that if someone goes on gardening leave, they’re no longer working for the other football club. My guess is that a settlement will be reached, and they [Manchester United] will pay a sum. He’s done an excellent job at Newcastle, but when you consider what he knows about players’ contracts, stipulations in their contracts, who Newcastle may need to sell and who they want to buy, he’ll take all of that knowledge with him to another football club.
“It’s a tough decision, but it is what it is. If you do well at your job, someone will try to poach you. Manchester United is a major football club that will go on to even greater heights under their new ownership arrangement. It will be resolved one way or another; he will eventually depart, United will pay a fee, and Newcastle will hire someone else to do the job.”
