Stefan Borson suggests the real reason Man United have blocked Newcastle deal

Manchester United likely put analyst Luke Dickson on gardening leave to prevent him from sharing the club’s latest plans ahead of his move to Newcastle United.

That is the view of former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider it’s something you can expect to see with any members of staff that have access to meaningful information.

The Daily Mail reported on 31 October Man United chief analyst Dickson informed the club he wanted to join Newcastle earlier this year, but he was placed on gardening leave until November following the dispute over Dan Ashworth’s move to Old Trafford.

That period is now up, with the Tyneside club closing in on formalising the 28-year-old’s appointment.

Newcastle and Man United were previously locked in a battle over compensation for sporting director Ashworth before it was eventually resolved in July.

Man United want to avoid information being shared after Newcastle switch

Borson doesn’t believe placing someone on gardening leave is unreasonable when it comes to high-level individuals.

He told Football Insider: “It’s always been a surprise to me that people haven’t held managers and coaches to gardening leave.

“I always think about when Arteta went to Arsenal mid-season and City didn’t hold him to six months gardening leave.

“There was a rumour Arsenal had turned up at Arteta’s house after a City game and they sort of did the deal in Arteta’s living room, and then he turns up at Arsenal the next day.

“It’s always a surprise that you allow somebody with all that club knowledge to walk out the door.

“It’s just much easier throughout the game because the costs of having somebody on gardening leave are much lower, you can just put somebody on gardening leave and you make sure that they don’t have your very latest plans.

“I think it’s perfectly normal and you can expect to see it on most club staff that have got access to any meaningful information.

“You would expect them to either be working out their notice period or on gardening leave.

“It’s a pretty conventional route and I don’t think the gardening leave is particularly unreasonable.”

In other news, Newcastle owners could agree multiple huge deals after twist.

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The post Stefan Borson suggests the real reason Man United have blocked Newcastle deal appeared first on Football Insider.