Man Utd sporting director Dan Ashworth “bemused” by bizarre comments from Newcastle’s Paul Mitchell

Manchester United’s sporting director Dan Ashworth is “bemused” by bizarre comments made by Newcastle’s new transfer chief Paul Mitchell.

Manchester United and Sir Jim Ratcliffe managed to secure the services of Dan Ashworth this summer for a reported £2.5 million fee after Newcastle initially wanted around £20 million for their sporting director.

The saga was clearly not favourable for United’s Premier League counterparts, who took their time in finding a replacement.

Newcastle eventually agreed to sign Paul Mitchell as Ashworth’s replacement. United had previously considered Mitchell to be part of Ashworth’s team at Old Trafford.

Dan Ashworth bemused by Mitchell’s comments

According to a new report from the Telegraph, Dan Ashworth has been “hurt and bemused” by claims from Newcastle’s new sporting director Paul Mitchell that the club’s transfer structure was “not fit for purpose”.

In an interview conducted last week, Mitchell criticised Newcastle’s scouting and data analysis practices. He also suggested they have overpaid for players since the takeover by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund back in 2021.

This follows on from Newcastle boss Eddie Howe being “frustrated” with the transfer business conducted by Mitchell and his team, with the summer being underwhelming for the Northern team.

Mitchell isn’t making much sense

Paul Mitchell may well be slightly under pressure after an opening transfer window at St James’ Park, which can only be described as a car crash of a window.

Newcastle potentially had the worst business of any Premier League club, even after they made some questionable deals to aid their FFP situation.

It doesn’t help when you actually look at the business Ashworth made during his time at their club and realise that most of their signings were solid additions to the squad.

Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento are all viewed as key players at Newcastle and were all signed for respectable fees.

Lewis Hall and Sandro Tonali have not yet succeeded due to differing circumstances but could both easily turn into successful signings for Eddie Howe.

That leaves Chris Wood and Matt Targett as the only two guaranteed failed signings under Ashworth, and both of them were signed when the Magpies were facing a relegation battle.

Meanwhile, Mitchell and his recruitment team were led on a wild goose chase by Crystal Palace for Marc Guéhi this summer – while signing nobody else of note – and would have been vastly overspending on the defender even if they got a deal over the line.

Ashworth, in contrast, also barely had any time to adapt to his new settings at Old Trafford but managed to secure five first-team signings for Erik ten Hag’s squad, all in priority positions, and added several exciting young, talented players for the Academy.

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