Eddie Howe is worried Dan Ashworth may furnish Manchester United with inside information about Newcastle United’s transfer plans, key personnel and tactical secrets.
The Old Trafford club are keen to poach Newcastle’s sporting director and it appears Ashworth wants to leave. But with compensation to be resolved and no deal in place, he continues to, among other things, attend recruitment meetings with scouts.
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“Recruitment is a 365-day-a-year job,” said Howe. “It never sleeps and, yes, Dan is in a position of power and privy to a lot of intelligence and information. That’s why it’s a slightly unusual situation.”
Accordingly Newcastle’s manager hopes for a swift resolution to a long-mooted switch which is expected to cost Manchester United at least £10m in compensation as they attempt to reduce a clause understood to be contained in Ashworth’s contract which precludes the former Football Association technical director from starting another job for 12 months after leaving Tyneside.
“We want a quick resolution,” said Howe, who despite enjoying a good working relationship with Ashworth has not made the 52-year-old part of his inner circle. “It’s better for everybody if that’s the case.”
Although Ashworth has not stated publicly that he wants to depart, Newcastle’s manager answered “no” when asked whether Ashworth had said he wanted to stay.
Howe suggested Ashworth has not had time to make his mark on Newcastle since joining from Brighton 20 months ago. “It’s a difficult one because when you’re in that role I think you need longevity to actually see the fruits of your labour,” he said. “It’s sort of a long-term position and the people who have done it best in the Premier League throughout time have always had a period of real stability, because change takes a long time at any football club to get those processes exactly how you want them to be.
“Dan’s had a relatively short time here, Newcastle is a huge football club and it will continue to work in a very efficient way regardless of who is here. We’ve got some very, very capable people here in all departments, so we would carry on very smoothly. Since they have come to the football club the board have run it really well.”
Howe praised Ashworth for resisting the temptation to change too much too fast. “Dan let the structures that were in place exist and survive and we’re still working the same way that we were in the first transfer window [which predated Ashworth’s arrival],” he said. “Our recruitment has been very good. So that won’t be affected.”
