Yankuba Minteh and Dan Ashworth - The hidden factor that could be key this summer

According to The Athletic, Dan Ashworth 'pushed' for the signing of Yankuba Minteh and held back funds from the first-team budget to ensure he signed last summer.

12 months later, our outgoing sporting director is on gardening leave ahead of a move to Man Utd, but the fact Minteh was an Ashworth signing may help explain, in part, why the Gambian could be sacrificed this summer.

Of course, a big part of his sale surrounds PSR and Newcastle's need to raise funds before the 30th June deadline. However, we also have to factor in Eddie Howe; who is not only a manager but a big voice at recruitment level now Ashworth has departed.

The Athletic report that Howe 'was not involved' in Minteh's arrival from Odense last summer. While the boss was keen to take a look at the 19-year-old over pre-season, it's quite conceivable that he would reluctantly sanction the sale of a player he didn't actually sign.

Ideally, we'd have a buyer for Miguel Almiron before the PSR deadline, but his involvement at Copa America and reluctance to leave has blocked that avenue for now. Kieran Trippier's future is also thought to be uncertain as the 33-year-old enters the final 12 months of his contract, although he's also away at a major tournament. Callum Wilson is another who could be moved on for FFP reasons, but it seems the club prefer to line up his replacement before allowing him to leave.

Minteh leaving before he's kicked a ball for the club is a real shame and he may have been put on a different path had Ashworth still been here. It just feels like he's the player we've opted to sacrifice to avoid a points deduction or transfer ban; an idea Howe may have reluctantly accepted given he was signed by someone else and is yet to prove himself in our system or the Premier League.

Here's a reminder of what Ashworth said when Minteh signed last summer, with it quite telling that he - not Howe or anyone else - was the only club official to react to his arrival on NUFC.co.uk:

“We are very pleased to be bringing a player with Yankuba’s high potential to Newcastle United.

“He has done extremely well in his first full season in Denmark, and he has a promising career ahead of him. We look forward to working with him in this exciting phase of his development, and we’re excited to see how he performs at Feyenoord, a club that also has a strong development record of its own.

“As well as supporting the first team with players for the here and now, we have a clear philosophy to invest in emerging talent and we want to provide a player pathway that will help to build and sustain long-term success.”