Mark Douglas at the i has revealed that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a huge admirer of Dan Ashworth and keen to bring him to Old Trafford as he prepares to take a 25% stake in Manchester United.
The British billionaire is proposing a restructure of football operations and wants a new director in place, with Ashworth, Paul Mitchel (former Monaco) and Michael Edwards (former Liverpool) all shortlisted.
Ratcliffe is thought to be ‘greatly impressed’ by the work Ashworth has done since officially swapping Brighton for Newcastle last June. However, it seems a stern ‘hands off’ message has come back from St James’ Park.
The i claim that any approach would almost certainly fail, as Newcastle insist our sporting director is “fully invested” in the current project on Tyneside; which aims to put the club amongst ‘Europe’s elite.’
The report adds that it would also take ‘huge compensation’ to poach the 52-year-old, while Toon chiefs are adamant we are no longer a stepping stone club who’d allow key members of staff to leave for ‘big six’ rivals.
Gone are the days when these so called ‘top’ clubs just arrogantly think they can take any of our players or staff whenever the mood takes them.
They’re not the Big 6 any more as we could buy the lot of them together.
It’s about time they got the message.
Toonarden(Quote)