The offer from Manu was £2m apparently, £3m less than what we paid Brighton, and we wanted £8-12m to release him from his gardening leave. If it’s true the arrogance and entitlement from them is astounding.What a pair of numpties
1: you have someone actively working on gardening leave at City
2: someone just been caught breaking his non disclosure agreement with two clubs lol
100% this has been leaked by the club and the timing is very suspect!!
I suspect this is to flush Manu oit and back to the table. It was Craig who had information that Newcastle wanted nothing close to 20million for Ashworth but Manu offer was chumps change.
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An email that Dan Ashworth sent to himself about being approached by Manchester United could be crucial in the forthcoming arbitration against his former club Newcastle United.
Ashworth, who is still being paid his salary of more than £1 million a year by Newcastle despite being on gardening leave for three months, emailed the incoming Manchester United chief executive, Omar Berrada, making it clear that he wanted to accept an offer to become the club’s sporting director after the pair had held a conversation in early February.
In doing so, he sent a blind copy to his own Newcastle email address. Club staff were therefore aware of that message when Ashworth, their sporting director at the time, revealed to them that he wanted to talk to officials at Old Trafford about taking up a post there.
The email sent to Berrada by Ashworth also went to the sporting director’s Newcastle address
PA
The Premier League’s rules state that each club and director should behave towards each other with the “utmost good faith” and it could be a breach if they were to “act dishonestly towards another club or engage in conduct that is intended to circumvent these rules”.
It is felt this information could now be crucial in swinging the pendulum in favour of Newcastle before the arbitration that Ashworth and Manchester United hoped would help to facilitate his move to the club. It had been due to start at the end of this month.
The Times can reveal that Manchester United have so far offered about £2.5million to end the 53-year-old’s gardening leave and allow him to begin his new job this summer but the clubs remain some distance apart.
That is less than Newcastle paid Brighton & Hove Albion when they took him to St James’ Park in June 2022. It is thought that Ashworth disclosed details to Berrada, who is also on gardening leave and will begin his position at Old Trafford after a move from Manchester City on July 13, of the agreement that took him to Newcastle. That could be a breach of confidentiality.
Ashworth’s gardening leave in his contract with Newcastle is due to run until October next year. Newcastle are still open to negotiation to end the impasse but want a figure of about £10 million.
Newcastle’s desire is for the figure to reflect Ashworth’s worth, what the club paid Brighton and also what he has received in salary and bonuses since taking up his position at St James’ Park.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United’s new minority shareholder, was critical of Newcastle’s stance in February. He said then: “I think it’s a bit silly, personally. What I do think is completely absurd is suggesting a man who is really good at his job sits in his garden for 1½ years.”
Manchester United declined to comment on the story.”
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