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| FA technical director Dan Ashworth takes part in a press conference at Wembley Stadium in London on December 1, 2016. |
Newcastle United
have confirmed the arrival of Dan Ashworth as their new sporting director.
Since their Saudi-backed takeover was
completed in October the club’s new owners have made modernising their
operations a priority.
Ashworth was soon
identified as their number-one target and the club announced
his appointment in February. However, they did so before reaching an agreement
with Brighton, for whom the 51-year-old was working as technical director.
Ashworth has been on gardening leave
since then with Brighton holding out for around £5m from Newcastle to terminate
his contract.
An agreement between the two clubs
has finally been reached, with Newcastle confirming his arrival in a statement
on their official website.
“Newcastle
United are delighted to announce that Dan Ashworth will become the club’s
sporting director after an agreement was reached with Brighton & Hove
Albion to release him from his current contractual obligations with immediate
effect.“The terms of this agreement
will remain confidential between the clubs and are subject to Premier League
approval.“Newcastle United will issue
further information following the relevant approval process.”
Prior to moving to Brighton Ashworth
worked at the FA where he was one of the principal contributors to the ‘England DNA’ report
credited with turning the national team’s flagging fortunes around.
He is now set to oversee another busy
transfer window for the Magpies as they plot an assault on the top half of the
Premier League table.
Manchester
United goalkeeper Dean Henderson, Burnley’s James Tarkowski and Atletico Madrid
wing-back Renan Lodi are all early targets, while Newcastle
remain interested in young striker Hugo Ekitike – who they chased in January.
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