- Newcastle announce Dan Ashworth has been placed on gardening leave
- Ashworth wants to leave Newcastle following interest from Manchester United
- Will Manchester United need to pay more than £60m for Dan Ashworth?They are ruining business for Newcastle – listen to the podcast ‘Everything Kicked Off’
Rio Ferdinand has praised Dan Ashworth, insisting there was no better option for Manchester United as the sporting director approaches a sensational move to Old Trafford.
Newcastle announced on Monday that the recruitment guru had begun a period of gardening leave following interest from the Red Devils for his maiden post at Old Trafford.
Mail Sport revealed earlier this week that Ashworth has told the Magpies he wants to leave the club as a major overhaul of United’s sporting position takes shape following the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Ta.
Ferdinand, who spent 12 years at Old Trafford, praised Ashworth, who he believes has no equal in the world of football.
“I think he’s the best,” the former defender said on his YouTube channel “FIVE”. “He’s very calm, he’s very confident in what he’s doing. He’s very focused, hard-working and knows the market very well.
“I’m not going to budge, I don’t think he’s going to be bullied by his agent or anything like that. You have to go back to the archives. I said Man United should have signed him earlier.
“If I had to pick a sporting director it would have been him. I spoke to him at Brighton. People at Newcastle asked my opinion and I said I’d go get him and they went to get him.”
MailSport understands that the period of gardening leave written into the sporting director’s current contract will run into the January 2026 transfer window.
That means Man United will have to either release him early or negotiate more compensation to meet the terms of his contract and wait out his gardening leave.
As Mail Sport reported last week, development is expected to reach a climax in the coming days.
Manchester United are thought to be willing to be patient and wait for Ashworth if a compromise cannot be reached, which would see Newcastle pay Ashworth’s wages during his gardening leave.
The 52-year-old maintains his position after he expressed concerns at Friday’s pre-match press conference about Ashworth’s access to the club’s inner workings ahead of a potential departure for a rival team. It felt like it was impossible.
Mr Howe said it was for “someone above me” to answer whether Mr Ashworth should be asked to immediately leave the building. It can be assumed that the head coach wanted to resolve the situation quickly.
Ashworth stayed on over the weekend, attending a scouting meeting and playing in Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with Bournemouth.
But on Sunday, just 20 months after joining from Brighton, he informed the club of his intention to leave.