According to reports, Dan Ashworth is set to argue he was sacked by Newcastle United to force through his move to Manchester United.
The 53-year-old has only been with Newcastle United since 2022 but is looking for a way out of the club amid interest from Man Utd.
Ashworth to argue he was sacked
is regarded as one of the finest sporting directors in the world and he did stellar work at Brighton before moving to Newcastle United following Saudi-backed PIF s takeover of the Premier League club.
He is understood to have a close relationship with new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is keen to bring the Newcastle man to Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe completed his purchase of a 27.7% stake in Man Utd earlier this year and one of his priorities in recent months has been to overhaul the recruitment model at Old Trafford.
The INEOS chief has already recruited chief executive Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox, but Ashworth is viewed as the final piece of the jigsaw.
After making it clear to Newcastle that he intends to join Man Utd, Ashworth was placed on gardening leave as the clubs held talks over a compensation package.
The Premier League teams remain far apart so an arbitration hearing has been requested to settle the dispute and this is expected to be held later this month.
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Earlier this week, a further spanner was thrown into the works as it emerged that
Ashworth will argue he was sacked from the club rather than resigning so Newcastle are forced to let him out of his lengthy gardening leave early .
Telegraph Sport can reveal that Ashworth believes his departure from Newcastle gives him grounds to argue the gardening leave is null and void as things were not handled correctly before his departure.
In effect, his argument ahead of arbitration is that he was not asked to formally write down his resignation by chief executive Darren Eales and should not have been placed on gardening leave until he did so. He will therefore argue he was removed from his position rather than asking to step down.
Newcastle are said to be astounded by the attempt to get out of his contracted gardening leave and are set to contest at arbitration, insisting they have every right to prevent Ashworth starting work at Old Trafford until late 2025 unless compensation can be agreed.
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Regarding the tapping up accusations, the report suggests the email shows talks had been taking place in secret and would constitute an illegal approach .
The email, discovered by Newcastle, was sent weeks before Ashworth told executives at the north east club that he wanted to stand down and appears to show that talks had been taking place in secret and would therefore constitute an illegal approach. Newcastle had not been asked for permission to speak to Ashworth until much later.
