Troy Deeney believes Newcastle United hiring Dan Ashworth as the club’s sporting director has been Amanda Staveley’s ‘best call’ yet. The Toon appointed the former FA chief in May.
Ashworth officially started his role as the Toon’s sporting director in June after clearing the Premier League’s approval process. The Saudi-backed Magpies were made to be patient in appointing the 51-year-old following protracted negotiations with Brighton & Hove Albion.
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Reports by The Guardian note the Seagulls initially sought £5m in compensation to release him from his contract. Ashworth already resigned from his role as technical director at the Amex Stadium in February. But Brighton insisted on a prolonged period of gardening leave.
Newcastle eventually agreed to pay Brighton in excess of £1m to release Ashworth from all remaining aspects of his contract, per The Athletic. He arrived at St James’ Park in time for the start of the summer transfer window and Eddie Howe’s team returning for pre-season.
Ashworth oversaw a strong first window in charge of Newcastle’s transfer plans. The Toon retained Matt Targett for £15m following his half-season on loan from Aston Villa. He also acquired Nick Pope from Burnley for £12m following their relegation to the Championship.
Howe also gained his No.1 defensive target, Sven Botman, in a £35m deal with LOSC Lille in July. While Aleksander Isak left Real Sociedad and moved to Tyneside in August for £63m as Newcastle spent a new club-record fee. Joelinton was their previous top spend at £40m.
Dan Ashworth was Amanda Staveley’s ‘best call’ at Newcastle for Troy Deeney
Staveley sticking with negotiations with Brighton to hire Ashworth as Newcastle’s sporting director impressed Deeney more than any other decision. The Birmingham City captain is a huge admirer of the Football Association’s former technical director’s ability in the market.
“When it has come to recruitment, her best call was taking sporting director Dan Ashworth from Brighton, where he did such a great job and at The FA before that,” Deeney wrote in his column for The Sun.
“Ashworth is one of the best operators in the business. An intelligent bloke, who understands how to build a club. As a result, I haven’t even seen Newcastle seriously linked with ‘Galacticos’ like Kylian Mbappe.”
The Englishman left his position at The FA in September 2018 after five years to take up a similar role with Brighton. Ashworth has also previously worked for Peterborough United, Cambridge United and West Bromwich Albion with an average of 3.5 years in any position.
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