Paul Mitchell has been named as Newcastle United’s new sporting director, and the newcomer intends to upend the Premier League’s current hierarchy.
Paul Mitchell had always desired to work in England again—but only in the ideal situation. Without a doubt, Mitchell would not have taken the job as Newcastle United’s new sporting director if the circumstances had not been appropriate, but it is interesting that the 42-year-old mentioned the team’s “ambition” in his opening remarks.
After Dan Ashworth left to join Manchester United, there were a few doubts about the club’s future, but CEO Darren Eales declared that “our exciting journey doesn’t stop” and that this is a long-term endeavor that is obviously still appealing. Why wouldn’t it? Newcastle hopes to establish itself as a trophy-chasing, top six sustainable team—that is, a team that routinely upsets the status quo. Mitchell must have been moved by that.
Eddie Howe famously said that Newcastle ‘were not here to be popular…we’re here to compete,’ and Mitchell could have said the same thing about any of the teams he had previously worked for, including Southampton, Spurs, AS Monaco, and RB Leipzig.
“When we were at Leipzig, we liked to challenge ourselves to be disruptors,” he told the Athletic. We must attempt to approach things slightly differently. We need to make an effort to be more thoughtful, industrious, and knowledgeable. We must have a well-defined plan outlining our goals and be able to carry it out.”
Do you recognize this? It is simple to understand how Howe and Mitchell, two obsessives who have never collaborated before, will mesh. They have a similar preference for high-intensity football, place a high value on character when hiring, are familiar with the inner workings of the Premier League, and were both previous professional football players of a comparable age who had devastating injuries that ended their careers, which only served to motivate them.
For Howe, having Mitchell in place this summer will be crucial. Although Ashworth’s gardening leave was imposed back in February, the Newcastle manager would have preferred that the appointment had been made even sooner. However, he emphasized the significance of selecting the correct candidate, and Mitchell has a proven track record of hiring.
While not every new signing is successful, it is crucial to remember that no one person is ever fully in charge of signing a player. Nevertheless, there have been many successful signings at teams where Mitchell has held significant positions in the past. At Southampton, he oversaw recruitment and scouting, and among the players that joined were Ryan Bertrand, Dusan Tadic, Sadio Mane, and Toby Alderweireld. When Mitchell was Spurs’ head of recruitment and analysis, the following players were added: Son Heung-min, Dele Alli, Kieran Trippier, Alderweireld (again), and Victor Wanyama. Prior to Mitchell moving to Monaco, RB Leipzig hired Christopher Nkunku, Patrik Schick, Dani Olmo, and Nordi Mukiele in the same capacity.
Axel Disasi, for example, was signed by Monaco for €13 million and went on to bank the team more than three times that much when he joined Chelsea. Several players went on to make enormous profits; Newcastle needs to improve as merchants. Even though the owners took over a team that was in serious danger of relegation in 2021, Allan Saint-Maximin and Chris Wood were the only players to bring in significant sums of money prior to the mad dash that occurred last weekend.
Although Mitchell specializes in recruitment, the sports director’s responsibilities will extend beyond player acquisitions. Keeping Newcastle’s ‘development and long-term competitiveness in all areas of elite football performance’ is something that the Stalybridge native has already discussed.
Mitchell, who made sure youth had a route when he took over as Monaco’s sporting director in 2020 after the Principality’s foolish €350 million expenditure in the two years prior to his arrival, will give the academy a lot of attention. Actually, Monaco has been gone for a long time.
The training area served as a construction site. The club’s roster had 77 players with professional contracts. Ironically, Mitchell arrived just before the COVID shutdown and Benoit Badiashile, who later moved to Real Madrid and Chelsea, were not utilized as replacements in Monaco’s last game.
Read more on;https://sportupdates.co.uk
Leave a Reply