Dan Ashworth saga takes another twist - 'Sack' claims emerge after leaked Man Utd emails

As revealed by Craig Hope at The Mail, Dan Ashworth has suffered a huge blunder after accidentally emailing Newcastle information about his secret exchange with soon-to-be Man United chief Omar Berrada.

Leaked emails show Ashworth revealed to the club that he was being tapped up by their Premier League rivals early on in February before he was placed on gardening leave by Newcastle.

Our former sporting director made it clear that he wanted to leave for Old Trafford when speaking to Berrada, who was on gardening leave at Manchester City at the time. 

It gets worse, however, as The Telegraph's Luke Edwards reports that Dan Ashworth is now trying to force an early arrival at Manchester United by arguing he was sacked by Newcastle.

According to today's report, Ashworth believes his period of gardening leave should be null and void, arguing that he was removed from his position rather than asked to step down. He looks set to put this forward ahead of an arbitration hearing, which has been organised now Man Utd have refused to meet our compensation demands.

Is this Ashworth trying to make up for his embarrassing blunder? It was a massive error on his part and opens the door for the Premier League investigation, especially if Newcastle weren't aware of Man Utd's interest at the time of those emails.

In the end, it may actually work out better for us the long-term if the 53-year-old was so happy to jump ship so soon after he signed up to a long-term project at St James' Park.