Sir Jim Ratcliffe has apologised after it ‘probably’ cost Manchester United £20m to hire and fire former Newcastle United sporting director Dan Ashworth and to dismiss Erik ten Hag and his staff.
Sir Jim sacked ten Hag just a few months after handing the Dutchman a new deal while Ashworth went on to leave the club in December having only started work at Old Trafford last summer. Sir Jim put Ashworth’s exit down to the ‘chemistry’ not being right, after the 54-year-old spent as much time on gardening leave as he did working for Manchester United, but it proved an expensive mistake.
A £14.5m ‘exceptional item’ figure was disclosed in Manchester United’s quarterly accounts, which covered the £10.4m spent on sacking ten Hag and his coaching team and the £4.1m Ashworth received in compensation. However, the episode cost Manchester United more when you factor in the fee the Red Devils paid to Newcastle to cut short Ashworth’s notice period as well as other costs.
“It’s probably £20m, yes,” Sir Jim told the BBC after being asked about the overall compensation figures involved. “But, also, remember I put $300m into the club in January. That’s all gone.
“So, yes, I agree the Erik ten Hag and Dan Ashworth decisions were errors. I think there were some mitigating circumstances, but ultimately they were errors. I accept that and I apologise for that.
“But at the end of the day we have to get the fundamentals right in the club – they are tens of millions. The numbers we are talking about are much bigger than that.”
Sir Jim went to great lengths to bring Ashworth to Old Trafford and even described the 54-year-old as ‘one of the best’ in the world when he was still, technically, a Newcastle employee. The Manchester United co-owner slammed Newcastle’s ‘silly’ demands to cut short Ashworth’s lengthy notice period and suggested the black-and-whites were being ‘very difficult’.
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View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/jim-ratcliffe-apologises-after-20m-31194378
