'It's a bit silly': Sir Jim Ratcliffe has reacted to the Dan Ashworth situation and he's not happy

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has had his say on Newcastle United's stance over sporting director Dan Ashworth and it's safe to say he's not taking it well.

The INEOS billionaire's Manchester United buy-in is all approved and things will now move forward rapidly in Man United's acquisition of Dan Ashworth - or at least they would if Newcastle weren't rightfully digging their heels in over a release fee.

Newcastle have placed Ashworth on gardening leave after he asked to leave the club at the weekend with the Magpies well within their rights to keep him there until his contract expires in 2026.

Newcastle have Jim Ratcliffe rattled already

Man United can buy him out of his contract, but to do so, Newcastle want a staggering £20million and they don't seem to be budging on that figure, nor should they.

Now Samuel Luckhurst has posted a quote from Jim Ratcliffe on X that shows just how brilliantly Newcastle have got under his skin.

"It's a bit silly, personally. I won't get dragged into that. What I do think is completely absurd is suggesting a man who is really good at his job sits in his garden for one-and-a-half years. That's completely stupid."

We might be loving this just a little bit too much

Seriously, inject this directly into my eyes, this is absolutely beautiful. He's been in the job five minutes and we've already got him rattled.

You know what to do, Jim, if that garden upsets you so much, all you have to do is cough up. You've just forked out £1.3billion, so what's another £20million on top of that?

Are we being petty here? Yes. Do we care? Not at all.