New figures reveal the £9m mistake made by Manchester United that Newcastle United fans will love

Newcastle United were taken over by the PIF supported by Amanda Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi and the Reuben Brothers back in 2021 and it was set to usher in a whole new era for Newcastle.

In fairness, a lot has changed for the better in the years since then, not all promises have been delivered on mind. The communication out of the club to fans is still awful and has actually gone backwards since Amanda Staveley and Merhrdad Ghodoussi were pushed out in the summer.

The club's spending on players has dropped off massively, but that's a consequence of early over-spending.

One area where the new board have got things right for the most part has been staff appointments. Eddie Howe has proven to be the perfect man to lead the new revolution, supported by a boardroom with some top professionals with vast experience in their respective fields.

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Dan Ashworth's brief time at Newcastle came to an abrupt end

Newcastle appointed Dan Ashworth to be their central cog to the entire operation, and at the time, it was seen as a shrewd appointment given his success at England and Brighton.

However, one sniff of a better offer was all it took for Ashworth to turn his back on Newcastle, and after lengthy negotiations, he slithered off to Manchester United to join Sir Jim Ratcliffe's new-look Red Devils.

Hilariously, that venture didn't last long, with Ashworth being let go from Man United just five months later. Now The Northern Echo has reported on the £9 million hole it has left in Man United's accounts.

Dan Ashworth's exit from Man United was part of a £14.1 million mass exodus

Ashworth spent more time on gardening leave at Newcastle while the clubs negotiated his release fee than he spent in the job at Manchester.

That fee was speculated on for months, thought to be anywhere from £3 million to £20 million, but now we know the true cost to Manchester United was closer to £5 million after their most recent accounts were published.

Newcastle United paid around £3 million to take Ashworth from Brighton, so technically, they made a small profit on his move to Manchester United, whereas the Red Devils paid £5 million to us and then it cost them a further £4.1 million to oust him from the club. That's £9 million that Jim Ratcliffe is now out of pocket with nothing to show for it, not to mention the £10 million it cost them to get rid of Erik ten Hag.

Schadenfreude leads to bad karma, but it's hard not to take some pleasure in this.