Dan Ashworth is now looking to deal another blow to Newcastle United just weeks after leaving as their sporting director to join Man United.
Not only have Newcastle lost a top quality director in Ashworth, they’ve lost him to a direct Premier League rival who you’d expect to be competing with Newcastle for Europe in the coming years.
Now, a new report from Football Transfers is claiming that Ashworth is pushing hard to sign Jarrad Branthwaite from Everton, a player Newcastle have been scouting very recently.
Ashworth hoping to beat Newcastle to £75m defender
Branthwaite has emerged as an exciting talent for Everton this season and naturally there are a number of teams who are hoping to sign him in the summer with Newcastle keeping a close eye on him this weekend.
It looks like the Magpies will be up against a familiar face in the race for the centre-back as Ashworth is understood to be a big fan of Branthwaite and is hoping to make him one of his first signings at Old Trafford.
It’s understood that a fee of around £75m would be enough to secure the Carlisle-born defender, though Everton would be willing to accept an offer of £65m plus more in add-ons in the next window.
Whether that fee is too steep for Newcastle is unclear, but Man United look to be willing to match the offer in an attempt to draw the 21-year-old to Lancashire as one of their new star signings.
Newcastle could struggle to compete this summer
After what has been a disappointing season so far which has seen Newcastle drop to 10th in the Premier League, the fans will have been hoping to see some big name signings in the summer to help them push on next year.
However, the financial restrictions are really limiting what they can do and makes it very difficult for Newcastle to ever catch up with the tradition big six given they seem to have bottomless pits of money.
Meanwhile, the likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle, who are breaking into that top four or top six, will likely have to lose a key player if they want to have any money to spend on reinforcements.
It’s pretty much an almost impossible job for any club who don’t have the commercial revenue to compete season on season with the biggest clubs in the division and every year it becomes more of a closed shop for those already at the top.
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