Paul Mitchell has been lined up by Manchester United to become their newly-created director of football, according to the Sun.
The newspaper claim Mitchell, who quit as Tottenham’s head of recruitment last year before joining Bundesliga club RB Leipzig, is in the running for the post along with the FA’s Dan Ashworth, Roma’s Monchi and former United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
The Sun report executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is looking to restructure the recruitment team at the Premier League giants and will interview external candidates as well as internal ones like head of global recruitment Marcel Bout and chief scout Jim Lawlor,
OPINION
It would raise eyebrows at Spurs if Mitchell pitched up at Man United just a year after his protracted departure from White Hart Lane, which came after an extended spell on gardening leave. The transfer guru had made his name at MK Dons and Southampton before following Mauricio Pochettino to Tottenham in 2014. Mitchell was credited with his role in some outstanding signings, notably Toby Alderweireld, Victor Wanyama and Dele Alli. He was reportedly frustrated at Tottenham with senior figures ignoring his transfer recommendations and eventually left White Hart Lane last March. Working with the all-powerful Daniel Levy on a daily basis was clearly not plain sailing, but the same goes – if not more so – for Jose Mourinho, who is far from shy of publicly disparaging any club department he feels has let him down or is not pulling his weight. Mitchell is ambitious but he will need to be politically savvy, too, if he is to thrive at Old Trafford.