Former Southampton head of recruitment Paul Mitchell is a contender to replace Les Reed as technical director at St Mary’s, according to the Telegraph.
The newspaper claims that Mitchell, 37, could return to the Premier League four years after quitting the Saints to join Tottenham.
Mitchell is currently working for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, and there is a chance that he could re-unite with Ralph Hassenhuttl on the south coast as the Austrian has reportedly been made the number one choice to replace Mark Hughes as manager.
Good move for Southampton?
Southampton could play a blinder if they hired Hassenhuttl and secured a return for Mitchell, who has done such a good job in recruitment roles at both St Mary’s and with Tottenham.
He played his role in the Saints’ promotion to the Premier League in 2012 and helped Spurs transform themselves into one of the top teams in Europe by helping sign Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld.
Mitchell has also worked with Hassenhuttl at Leipzig before the 51-year-old left the Germany club at the end of last season.
It would make a lot of sense for the Saints to have these pair re-unite.
This is Futbol rating 9/10
Likely to happen?
Hassenhuttl is still without a job so it should be quite straightforward for Southampton to hire the Austrian to replace Hughes, who was sacked on Monday after 10 league games without a win.
Re-hiring Mitchell could be problematic though as RB Leipzig are bound to want to keep him and he may be reluctant to return to an old club rather than focussing on his future in Germany.
He is only 37-years-old, so going back to where he started may be viewed as a backwards step for him, especially as Southampton are not as strong as when he first left.
This is Futbol rating 5/10