Newcastle United are expected to appoint Dan Ashworth as their new director of football – but there is now an issue with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Newcastle have been chasing a new director of football ever since their takeover went through back in October.
The Magpies have been linked with appointing a number of names from Michael Emenalo through to Jason Wilcox; they just haven’t appointed one yet.
Their top target of late has been Ashworth, who has built up a strong reputation during his time with West Bromwich Albion, The FA and Brighton.
Ashworth was given permission to hold talks with Newcastle in December, and it looks like that move will now happen.
Ashworth resigned from his role at Brighton’s technical director earlier this week, with BBC Sport reporting that the move to Newcastle is imminent.
There could be a problem though because there is now believed to be a major gap in valuation between Newcastle and Brighton, as reported by The Athletic.
As it stands, Ashworth will see out his notice period before leaving Brighton. In order to cut that short and make an immediate move to Newcastle, the Magpies need to pay compensation.
Right now, Brighton’s valuation is beyond what Newcastle are willing to pay and the deal is now at a stalemate.
That notice period could run through the summer transfer window and into next season, which Newcastle absolutely won’t want.
They therefore need to come in with a bigger and better off to get Ashworth on board and planning well in advance of the summer window.
Brighton are in a fairly strong position here, and Newcastle can’t afford to let this situation rumble on and on for months on end.
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