Report: Interview process for Dan Ashworth's replacement will start next week with club having one big requirement

Newcastle United continue the process to find Dan Ashworth's replacement after the sporting director asked to leave the club to join Manchester United.

While Newcastle haven't rushed to install somebody new in Ashworth's place, things are still moving faster than his supposed move to Manchester United. Which is nice.

Ashworth is still on gardening leave while the two clubs argue over the compensation with Newcastle asking £20million and Man United refusing to stump up. The two sides are at an impasse, but it's affecting the Manchester club more as Newcastle are moving forward with their goal.

In fact, The Telegraph reports that Newcastle will begin the interview process next week as things progress towards a new appointment.

Premier League experience is very much preferred

It's now thought that the club would prefer someone who has experience navigating the transfer market already, preferably within the Premier League.

That would certainly narrow down the field with a few of the names mentioned over the past couple of months having no Premier League experience to speak of, although the main frontrunners certainly do.

Newcastle's very own Steve Nickson who has stepped up his role in the wake of Ashworth's departure is expected to be among the candidates.

Newcastle's stance on the £20m may soften when they have their man

The report doesn't mention any other names, but we've seen a few people linked with the job since the search began such as Phil Giles from Brentford and Paul Mitchell formerly of Monaco.

We expect that once Newcastle have made their selection, which could still take a while, the negotiations with Manchester United will likely speed up.

There's no point paying Ashworth to not do a job for too long, especially when they have to pay somebody else to do the job too.