Newcastle United have confirmed that sporting director Dan Ashworth has left the club and been placed on gardening leave, amid interest from Manchester United.
Ashworth is believed to have asked to leave the club after an approach by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s new leadership team at Manchester United.
Newcastle chief executive Darren Eales said: “We are naturally disappointed that Dan has chosen to leave, however, our exciting journey doesn’t stop and the process to recruit a new sporting director will begin immediately.”
His gardening leave will last until the end of his contract in 2025 unless compensation can be agreed. A fee paid could be in excess of £10m.
Ashworth was hired by Newcastle‘s Saudi-backed ownership in early 2022 after resigning as Brighton’s technical director.
Since Ashworth joined the club, Newcastle have made big signings including Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon and Aleksander Isak.
Ashworth had had roles with England’s youth teams in 2017 when the under-17s and under-20s won the World Cup for their respective age groups.
The Premier League club, who are currently in eight place, qualified for the Champions League in the 2022/23 season but failed to make it out of the group stage.
Manchester United are making major changes to their management team following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of a minority 25 per cent stake in the club.
The club announced the appointment of Omar Berrada as its new chief executive last month. Berrada was the chief football operations officer at Manchester City’s City Football Group.