Dan Ashworth's case against Newcastle takes another hit after meeting with PL club while on gardening leave
Dan Ashworth is taking Newcastle United to arbitration to claim that he did not resign from the club and was indeed sacked in a desperate bid to force his move to Manchester United.
Newcastle and Manchester United have been locked in a stalemate for months now after Dan Ashworth agreed to join Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Man United revolution.
After asking for permission to switch clubs, Ashworth was placed on gardening leave by Newcastle until his contract expires in 2026, or when compensation can be agreed with Manchester United.
Newcastle are asking for £20million while Man United are flat-out refusing to pay up, resulting in Dan Ashworth remaining on gardening leave unable to do anything.
Ashworth is consistently sabotaging his own case and it's hilarious
Out of desperation, Ashworth is taking Newcastle to arbitration to speed up the process by claiming he was sacked by Newcastle, which, evidence already in circulation proves not to be the case.
Emails that Ashworth, for some unknown reason, copied to his NUFC email address, showed conversations between himself and Omar Berrada about taking up the position at Manchester United before he'd informed Newcastle of his intent.
Now, inews are claiming that Ashworth met with Wolverhampton Wanderers technical director Matt Hobbs at Wolves' training ground in March without informing Newcastle.
The meeting may have been innocent but it won't help Ashworth's case
Manchester United insist that the meeting had nothing to do with them and that Ashworth was there for personal reasons.
That may well be the case given that Ashworth's son is part of the Wolves academy. However, the wrinkle is that, at the time, Wolves boss Gary O'Neil was being linked to the Manchester United job and the two had a conversation after a "chance encounter".
It may well have been completely innocent, but the fact that Ashworth didn't give Newcastle a heads-up knowing that his visit would likely come to light, is a little suspicious and certainly won't help his case against the club.
Not since Sunderland v Charlton in 2002/03 have we seen so many own goals in quick succession.
