Dan Ashworth is ready to act to force Newcastle United to let him leave the club and join Man United as their new sporting director.
As per The Athletic, the Englishman is poised to take the Magpies to arbitration in an attempt to force his move to Old Trafford.
Arbitration is a way of settling a dispute between two parties without having to go to court and Ashworth doesn't want to take Newcastle to court due to his respect for the club.
Man United are trying their best to convince Newcastle to release the executive from his 'gardening leave', but are refusing to pay as much as the £20m compensation being asked by the club.
As a result, Ashworth has now decided to hire a third party to look into this dispute. The arbitration case is expected to start in May and might need a number of weeks to complete.
The Red Devils will hope that the 53-year-old is successful in his attempts to force Newcastle to let him leave for a reasonable amount and that he can start his work as the Red Devils' sporting director soon.
But until Ashworth arrives, newly-appointed technical director Jason Wilcox is set to make some of the key decisions like the future of Erik ten Hag and the kind of signings made in the summer window.
