With Manchester United working to appoint him as their sporting director, Dan Ashworth has been placed on gardening leave by Newcastle United. Ashworth is already believed to have agreed terms with the Red Devils and informed Newcastle of his intention to depart.
However, the Magpies could demand more than £20m in compensation before they let him go, a figure that Jim Ratcliffe and Co have thus far deemed excessive. As such, talks could well drag on for a while.
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If United do end up appointing Ashworth, then it could lead to renewed uncertainty around the future of manager Erik ten Hag. It’s been reported that neither he nor Ratcliffe view the Dutchman as a viable “long-term” option for the club, which puts his position “under threat” heading into next season.
While the 13-time Premier League champions are currently enjoying a five-match winning streak across all competitions, they remain five points off the guaranteed Champions League qualification spots and exited this year’s competition in the group stages.
It may be significant, then, that former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel will be available at the end of the season. It was confirmed earlier this week that Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich this summer even though he only took charge last March.
The German pipped former club Borussia Dortmund to the title last season but they find themselves eight points adrift of leaders Bayer Leverkusen this term having recently lost 3-0 to Xabi Alonso’s side. They’re also in danger of crashing out of the Champions League after a 1-0 round of 16 first-leg defeat to Lazio, and they were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal by third-tier Saarbrucken.
Man Utd role appeals to Tuchel
According to Sky Sport Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Tuchel is “definitely taking a look” at the possibility of taking over at Manchester United. He believes he has unfinished business in the Premier League and he can “imagine” coaching the club “someday”.
Meanwhile, he also finds the prospect of taking over at Barcelona “interesting” ahead of the already-confirmed exit of Xavi. Significantly, he’s “on the list” of candidates for the position at the Nou Camp.
Tuchel’s mixed track record
Many United fans may rate Tuchel highly after watching him win the Champions League at Chelsea only a matter of months after taking over from Frank Lampard mid-season in 2020. Dubbed “sensational” by Emerson, one of his players, he then led the Blues to third place and two cup finals in 21/22, suffering a dramatic 5-4 quarterfinal defeat against Real Madrid in the defence of his European crown. However, he would be sacked just six games into the 2022/23 campaign, one of the swiftest exits in the competition’s history.
Earliest Premier League manager departures | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Manager | Club | Season | Days |
=1 | Christian Gross | Spurs | 98/99 | 21 |
=1 | Ruud Gullit | Newcastle | 99/00 | 21 |
=3 | Howard Wilkinson | Leeds | 96/97 | 23 |
=3 | Graeme Souness | Blackburn | 04/05 | 23 |
5 | Gianluca Vialli | Chelsea | 00/01 | 24 |
6 | Scott Parker | Bournemouth | 22/23 | 25 |
7 | Javi Gracia | Watford | 19/20 | 29 |
8 | Frank de Boer | Crystal Palace | 17/18 | 31 |
9 | Thomas Tuchel | Chelsea | 22/23 | 33 |
10 | Graham Potter | Brighton | 22/23 | 34 |
Previously, he’d lost his job at PSG, despite winning two league titles and taking them to a Champions League final, after falling out with sporting director Leonardo. It was a similar story at Dortmund, where his relationship with CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke became strained despite his triumph in the German Cup.
You could argue that Bayern are the only club justified in dismissing Tuchel for on-field reasons, but equally, it may be problematic that he has a track record of upsetting key members of a club’s hierarchy.
