It’s only a matter of time before Dan Ashworth rocks up at Old Trafford as Manchester United’s new sporting director.
The Newcastle chief was always Ineos Sports group’s number one choice for the role, but we must wait for a compensation package to be agreed between the two clubs before they agreed to take him off gardening leave.
Ashworth was placed on gardening leave after indicating his wish to leave St James’ Park for Old Trafford. Who would blame him for wanting to take a step up in his career?
However, former AS Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto says he would be willing to succeed Ashworth as Newcastle’s next sporting director. He hails the club as having “huge potential” due to their Saudi wealth.
“If a big club like Newcastle asks to speak to you, of course you’re interested,” Pinto told The i. “I know the club’s story very well because Sir Bobby Robson was a big personality in Portugal and we associated him with Newcastle. I followed the club because of that passion.
“The work the new ownership has done has been very impressive – with a clever strategy they’ve come from a relegation fight to the Champions League so there’s huge potential at Newcastle. I don’t know if the interest is true or not but who would say no to a project like that?”
Pinto added: “I’m not the guy who goes into a club and says ‘Fire everyone and appoint people I want’. That’s not my style, I prefer to go in and learn first. A club is better if there’s a peaceful environment, everyone’s aligned.
“I don’t like conflict. It is maybe a defect – I get involved in things that aren’t the core business of my activity but I want internal alignment of the coach, the board, all the departments. I believe that the more united we are, between every department, the closer we are to success.”
The 39-year-old appears to be targeting a move to a Premier League club after spells in Portugal and Italy. With positions also vacant at Liverpool and Bournemouth, there could be lots of movement among some of the top sporting directors in football.
Pinto previously worked closely with former United manager Jose Mourinho at Roma and was a key figure behind the signings of Tammy Abraham and Paulo Dybala. He agreed a mutual exit from the Serie A club in January, with Mourinho sacked from his job less than two weeks later.
By coming out and showing an interest in the Newcastle job, this could sway the Magpies to act quickly unless they have someone else in mind for the role. That hopefully means they will quicken the process of allowing Ashworth get on with his career by starting working at United.
Could this eventually lead to Mourinho replacing Eddie Howe at Newcastle?
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