Paul Merson has highlighted four Newcastle stars who ‘could play for Manchester United’ as the Premier League giants look to snatch technical director Dan Ashworth from their top-flight rivals.
With Dan Ashworth seemingly keen to take on a key role in Ineos’ awakening of European football’s slumbering superclub – an agreement expected to be reached between the two parties in the coming days – Ratcliffe appears close to completing another corner in a Manchester United jigsaw that is rapidly starting to take shape.
Ashworth, regarded very highly in behind-the-scenes circles on the back of the superb work he did with Brighton and with the Football Association, should become the latest ‘best-in-class’ appointment of the Ineos era, joining Jean-Claude Blanc and former Man City and Barcelona chief Omar Berrada at Old Trafford.
Manchester United raid Newcastle for Dan Ashworth
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson, meanwhile, wonders if Ashworth may be tempted to return to Newcastle in pursuit of a few who played their part in the club’s rapid rise from relegation battlers to 4-1 victors over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
“(Tino) Livramento could play for Man United. Why couldn’t he get in?,” Merson muses, also singling out free-scoring winger Anthony Gordon, stylish midfielder Sandro Tonali and centre-half colossus Sven Botman.
“Gordon is a major threat on counter-attack, does better than a lot of players for (United).
“(Tonali) is a good, good player. Brilliant midfield player. Botman is a top-drawer centre-half. They could easily play for Man United, they could.”
Magpies quartet ‘could easily play for Man United’
Losing Ashworth to a direct Premier League is one thing, of course. Newcastle would be loathe to let any of the aforementioned quartet join the 52-year-old at Manchester United, even if The Magpies’ well-documented Financial Fair Play concerns mean a key player or two may have to be sacrificed in name of progress in the near future.
According to The Athletic, Ashworth has informed Newcastle of Man United’s interest. He could be reunited in Manchester by Brighton and Hove Albion’s head of recruitment Sam Jewell.
Southampton director Jason Wilcox another name under consideration.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
