Newcastle Unite have finally broken their silence on Dan Ashworth, with CEO Darren Eales speaking to the media about the future of our sporting director.
Despite constant links with Manchester United, Eales is ‘hopeful’ the 52-year-old will be ‘here for the long term’, saying he’s ‘certainly enjoying his time at the moment’ and is happy with the current project at St James’ Park.
He was then asked about our January transfer plans, admitting it’s a tough window to work in when we are trying to get value for money deals that work within FFP restrictions, also referencing the fact so many clubs are reluctant to sell key players mid-season.
Eales rules out any ‘knee-**** reaction’ signings, confirms we prefer to do the bulk of our business over the summer and mentioned that a couple of players returning from injury could alter our thinking, but refuse to rule out incomings.
He also said we currently have ‘no intention’ of bringing in players on loan from PIF-owned Saudi clubs, as things stand. See below for his quotes in full on all of the above:
Eales on Dan Ashworth’s future:
“So obviously Dan, he’s spoke on the record recently about being happy in the project. We go back to our days at West Bromwich Albion where we worked together.
“Dan’s done a great job, there’s a lot more work to be done and we’re hopeful he’s here for the long term. He’s certainly enjoying his time at the moment.”
Eales on the January transfer window:
“It’s a difficult window to get value when you’re in the middle of the season and you are trying to bring quality in. Clubs aren’t willing to, or are less willing in January, to lose those types of players.
“Summer is always better from a value and a planning perspective. Secondly, we have had a number of injuries and we have got some very good players coming back in the second half of the season. We have that aspect as well when we look at the squad and talk about strengthening, we have players coming back who will have an impact.
“That will be the first couple of things, but like everything, we have to approach it on the medium to long term basis rather than kneejerk reactions.
“You have seen from the accounts the level of investment in the squad. We always have to be mindful of the PSR stuff and making sure we are always going to be compliant long term.
“For us, Jan isn’t a great window for us to be doing business. That doesn’t mean we won’t do any business, as we saw with Anthony Gordon last year. It’s difficult to do any major surgery.”
Eales when asked if we’ll sign players on loan from Saudi Arabia:
“No, there is no intention as things stand to do any loans from the PIF clubs in Saudi Arabia.”
