Simon Jordan rubbishes Dan Ashworth complaints as Man Utd are made to wait

TalkSport pundit Simon Jordan has claimed that Newcastle have acted with "diligence" throughout the saga surrounding sporting director Dan Ashworth's move to Manchester United.

Speaking on TalkSport, Jordan said that Ashworth's transfer to Manchester United was typical of how the football business works, but praised the Toon hierarchy for not caving in to the demands of executives at Man Utd; who wanted the deal done as soon as possible.

Ashworth was placed on gardening leave by Newcastle in mid-February after expressing a desire to join the Red Devils after the announcement of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's purchase of a large stake of the club. Ratcliffe branded Toon chiefs as "absurd" for holding firm in their valuation of the sporting director.

"Fair play to them," Jordan said. "The challenge for football is if you're a lesser club, irrespective of who owns you, you will find yourself building something that is successful and someone else coming along and taking the fruits of your hard work. With Ashworth, Newcastle took him from Brighton. They did to Brighton what's been done to them."

"That's the way the world works. And the challenge for them is to have the diligence, which they clearly have had, is to protect themselves from a perceived bigger football club just coming in and taking when it suits them with no consequence, or a sort of balancing act for the club that had him.

"He's been there for 20 months and been responsible for two or three hundred million on transfers. Most of them have worked out well and now he's going to Man United. Fair play to Newcastle. If Newcastle can go to Man United 'you want him? You've got to pay for it'."

Ashworth is yet to take up his role at the Red Devils and remains on gardening leave after the Manchester United negotiating team could not strike an agreement during talks over the Englishman's release.