Prospective Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth will act as a sounding board for their head coach.

That is the view of Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe, who has been working with Ashworth until recently.

The latter is on gardening leave at present, as he looks to seal an exit to the Old Trafford club.

“When Dan was here it was very much him, Dan would be my reference point on anything really. Now Dan's left, it's Darren Eales the CEO. In terms of my working week and day-to-day, nothing has changed," Howe told The Overlap podcast.

“It depends on the person, it's very much individual based. The owner I had at Bournemouth, he'd sometimes want a chat about the team, not the team I was going to pick.

"Just the squad and everybody was looking. It was very informal and relaxed. I've always found that I've tried to concentrate on the job and do the job to the best of my ability to help me manage upwards.

"That can alleviate a lot of the problems. When you do communicate, you communicate honestly. If I've made a mistake, I come out and say that I've made a mistake rather than trying to hide it."