‘Nonsense’ - Simon Jordan slams Manchester United and Dan Ashworth amid Newcastle United standoff

Simon Jordan believes Newcastle United have a right to demand as much money as possible from Manchester United for Dan Ashworth if he were to make the switch from Tyneside to Manchester. Reports in Mail Online have claimed Ashworth accepted the role at Manchester United in a ‘secret exchange’ with incoming chief executive Omar Berrada via email before the club made a formal approach to Newcastle United.

Jordan believes that Ashworth’s contract at Newcastle United should be adhered to and that it is up to the Red Devils to pay the compensation required for the 53-year-old who is set to begin arbitration proceedings. Jordan told TalkSport: “It just shows you how unrealistic and uncommercial it is. How are you going to legitimately police people? How are you going to do it?

“The only reason you are going to be able to police this is Dan Ashworth, the person responsible for recruiting players and being so accurate in his assessment [of them] has been so gormless that he sends [the email] to his current employers. You can’t write that sort of stuff can you? It’s wonderful.”

He continued: “What is designed to do is to weaponise the processes of the industry to get a maximum amount of money from Manchester United. Or say to Dan Ashworth ‘you are staying within the confines of your contract’. Ashworth was a big boy who signed a contract that gave obligations to him and the football club that were currently employing him.

“The reasons why Manchester United, despite Jim Ratcliffe sabre rattling about what he thinks is ridiculous, he can’t just rock in and take Dan Ashworth because he has a period of obligation to Newcastle under a contract he signed of sound body and mind.

“Now what they are trying to do now is weaponise the internal nonsense that football has where ‘you can’t talk to one another because it doesn’t happen’. We all know it happens, I can tell you factually that some of the biggest managers in this game have sat in rooms with players that play for other football clubs before they even been given permission to do it. It’s gone on since time immemorial.

“The bottom line is, and fair play to them, is how much money are Newcastle going to ring out of Manchester United’s hands?”