Dan Ashworth might as well just go tend to his garden now if this morning's headlines are anything to go by
Newcastle United's Sporting Director Dan Ashworth is heavily rumoured to be heading to Old Trafford to take up the same role for Manchester United.
It comes after Sir Jim Ratcliffe's buy-in to Man United was approved last week. Ratcliffe's right-hand man, Dave Brailsford and Dan Ashworth have a pre-existing relationship while Ratcliffe himself is a huge admirer of Ashworth.
The news of Ashworth's defection has dominated the NUFC headlines last week but this morning there seemed to be a slight change in tone from the big hitters.
The media is convinced it's a case of when not if Ashworth leaves Newcastle
A lot of the mainstream media and big football-based outlets like 90mins have gone with headlines that suggest the deal is done already, as they look to what Dan Ashworth is going to do first when he takes up his new role.
With so many outlets sounding so positive about the outcome it is starting to sound like a foregone conclusion at this point, despite Ashworth leading a scouting summit at Newcastle United yesterday.
Eddie Howe has already voiced his concerns about how much Ashworth knows about Newcastle and its long-term plans and how that could be damaging should he take up a role at a Premier League rival, so why, when it seems to obvious he's off, are we letting him continue to work on things that directly affect our future?
Keep Ashworth away from everything until he leaves
Obviously, we know the deal isn't finalised and Man United haven't yet made a formal approach, but if everyone seems so convinced that it's just a matter of when, not if, we should be doing something to mitigate against future damage.
I'm sure Newcastle will tie Ashworth up in all kinds of non-disclosure agreements and such, but unless we bug Ashworth's Old Trafford office, we'll never know if he's sticking to it.
Just put Ashworth in a box with a colouring book and some crayons to keep him busy while the compensation package is worked out because unless he decides to stay, he's just doing more harm than good at this point.
