Dan Ashworth’s Newcastle United future: How Eddie Howe, Gary Neville & co have reacted to Man Utd links

Newcastle United have placed Dan Ashworth on gardening leave after he told the club of his desire to move to Manchester United. No formal approach has yet been made for the 52-year-old, though, despite his future dominating headlines in recent days. Here, we take a look at how Ashworth’s potential move to Old Trafford has been greeted by Eddie Howe, Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Alan Shearer:

Eddie Howe

Ashworth’s potential departure dominated Howe’s press conference ahead of Saturday’s game with Bournemouth. The Magpies head coach admitted it was a strange situation for him, the club and Ashworth to be involved in and that he was hopeful that a speedy resolution could be found.

Howe said: "It's quite an unusual situation. Usually, there's transfer speculation on players, this is very different. Yes, of course, I think we want whatever happens a quick resolution.

"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. It's sort of a long-term position and I think 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."

Gary Neville

Neville has been very vocal about Manchester United’s owners in the past and their need to introduce behind-the-scenes recruitment and footballing processes. Under the new INEOS group, Ashworth will help implement these processes and Neville believes the Red Devils cannot waste time in securing the 52-year-old to begin work.

Neville told Sky Sports: “He will have restrictions to not be able to work at another club in the same space for 12 months, I’m sure of that. Man Utd might say we can’t wait that long so we will pay for it. 

“It is imperative that Man Utd get someone in place before the next transfer window. If you don’t pay £10m to get Ashworth out, and you get another window wrong, you could blow another £100m. So it’s important they get the right people in.

“What Man Utd need to do is stop the rot. When Man Utd phoned any club in Europe they were going 'here we go it's bingo time we are about to get paid a load of money'. Ashworth won’t allow that to happen – he’s quite resilient and measured around those situations.”

Roy Keane

Although Ashworth’s move to Old Trafford has been welcomed by many in Manchester, Keane has shared one of his concerns regarding the potential move, telling the Stick to Football podcast: "You're talking about Dan Ashworth coming into Manchester United and being the best for the job, but he doesn't seem to hang around for long. He was at Brighton for a few years, and he's only been at Newcastle for a couple seasons, so you have to look at that too. There's no doubt he's brilliant at his job, but who is to say he won't leave in 18 months for Real Madrid or Barcelona."

Alan Shearer

Newcastle United's all-time record scorer has also weighed in on the situation, commenting on reports that Newcastle United could demand in excess of £20m of compensation for Ashworth. Taking to X, Shearer posted a simple three-word message that read: ‘Is that all?’.