Newcastle lower £20m Dan Ashworth demand, Man United respond with fresh price

Newcastle United have now lowered their £20 million compensation price for Manchester United to pry Dan Ashworth away from his gardening leave.

The Geordies had originally set the monumental value after Ashworth told executives he wanted to leave the club for Manchester United. Sir Jim Ratcliffe said that Newcastle were acting “silly” in an interview last month.

However, with negotiations ongoing, iNewsSport has detailed that there were suggestions that a £9 million fee had been discussed between the clubs.

It was also added that United had “strongly rebutted” the idea that they were close to an agreement around this fee, with those at Old Trafford looking at getting a fee closer to the £3 million that Newcastle paid to Brighton for the sporting director in 2022.

There are constructive talks between the two clubs now, with Darren Eales in charge of negotiations on Newcastle’s side. Yet, the aforementioned report mentioned that there remains a “far distance” on fees and terms to get Ashworth’s move complete.

Finally, the report explained that the finer details, such as whether the Old Trafford club will be barred from buying Newcastle’s players for a certain period of time, are yet to be concluded.

Ashworth’s gardening leave is reportedly until late 2025, and so United will need to strike an agreement with their fellow Premier League club eventually.

However, with the report suggesting that there have at least been conversations below the £10 million mark, it seems that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s team are already making progress in the negotiations.

Ashworth would join the new-look INEOS team at United. Omar Berrada has joined the club as CEO after his exploits at Manchester City, while there is also a search for a Head of Recruitment to support Ashworth when he’s able to complete a move.