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Football financial expert Stefan Borson claims Manchester United paid just £3million to appoint Dan Ashworth as sporting director.

A five-month saga came to an end on July 1 when the Red Devils confirmed Ashworth’s arrival from Newcastle United. The 53-year-old spent less than two years on Tyneside before jumping ship to join Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos-backed revolution at Old Trafford.

His departure turned ugly, with Ratcliffe breaking code by publicly slamming Newcastle on several occasions. The Magpies initially held firm on a robust £20million asking price - branded “silly” by the Man United shareholder.

Arbitration was set to take place between the two camps before an agreement was reached earlier this month. Toon chiefs have since appointed former Monaco supremo Paul Mitchell as his replacement.

NewcastleWorld have received no confirmation of the final compensation package for Ashworth but monetary guru Borson has revealed what he heard. The expert told Football Insider: “There is quite a lot of rumour and counter rumour about how much Newcastle settled for in the end on Ashworth. 

“I did hear one source say to me the fee was as low £3million. I’ve heard that it was well below £10million and nowhere near some of the numbers that have been rumoured. At the end of the day, Newcastle were over a barrel as they admitted last week. 

“The CEO Darren Eales admitted that it was very close at the last minute in terms of PSR. I don’t think they were in a very good negotiating position at the death. I suspect United did a decent deal.”