Transfer news expert Fabrizio Romano has responded to recent reports linking Newcastle United director Dan Ashworth with a potential move to Manchester United once Sir Jim Ratcliffe finalises the purchase of his 25% stake in the club.
Ashworth is rated highly by Romano, though it seems he’s unsure about the stories as he insists things are still at an early stage in terms of internal discussions about changes to the board at Old Trafford.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his Daily Briefing column, Romano also stressed that Newcastle are very happy with Ashworth, so one imagines they won’t be letting him go without a fight.
Of course, Man Utd are a huge club and it would be hard to turn them down, even if it’s undoubtedly going to be a big and challenging job to get the Red Devils back to where they want to be, so it will be interesting to see what Ashworth personally makes of the club’s interest, if it is indeed accurate.
“There are many links with the Manchester United director job and Dan Ashworth is one name coming up in reports,” Romano said.
“The first step has to be how to structure the board; this is what INEOS people are discussing, if proceeding with one director or maybe a structure with two or three people working on club project. Talks are still ongoing internally.”
He added: “I rate Ashworth highly, he’s done some excellent work in the transfer market, he’s an excellent director. He’s a really top professional and it’s also important to say that Newcastle are very happy with him.”