Newcastle United have confirmed that Paul Mitchell will replace Dan Ashworth as the club's new sporting director. Mitchell has previously worked at AS Monaco, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and RB Leipzig and was wanted by Manchester United before they moved for Ashworth.
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00:00So, Newcastle United have appointed their new sporting director to replace Dan Ashworth
00:05at the club. That will be former Monaco sporting director Paul Mitchell. Now Mitchell joins
00:11after Manchester United and Newcastle came to an agreement over the release of Ashworth.
00:15A compensation was finally agreed. You know, Ashworth's been on garden and leave since
00:19February in Newcastle and we've seen many things from Sir Jim Ratcliffe talking about
00:23garden and leave and the process of that and what Manchester United had to do to release
00:28Ashworth from his contract. But eventually that deal was sorted earlier this week so
00:31Ashworth moves to Manchester United and that left a void for Newcastle to fill and after
00:35months of working on candidates and numerous people getting mentioned with the role, including
00:42Dougie Freedman, not too long ago he was sort of seen as the leading candidate and instead
00:46decided to stay at Crystal Palace. I guess I have now confirmed that Paul Mitchell will
00:51be their new sporting director. Now as I mentioned, Mitchell's worked at Monaco previously, he's
00:56also worked at Tottenham and had a role at Southampton over a decade ago, headed their
01:01promotion to the Premier League. You may remember that they were famed for their recruitment
01:07of players really during that period. So that'll be something that Newcastle hope to tap into
01:11and his experience will be something that they will hopefully be able to work on alongside
01:19the transfer committee and whoever else. Hopefully Mitchell can hit the ground running and really
01:22start because this is a key summer for Newcastle. We've seen that Manchester have the PSR issues,
01:26and now this is a summer where they really need to hit the ground running and get some
01:30players in and hopefully Mitchell can bring his experience and really start that process.
01:35As I said, you just have to have a quick look at the roles he's had at previous clubs. I've
01:40mentioned the work he did at Southampton, at Tottenham. He then switched from Southampton
01:45to Tottenham with Maurizio Pochettino. He signed Dele Alli, Son Heung-Min and Kieran
01:50Trippier even for Tottenham then and obviously we all know that Tottenham went to the Champions
01:54League final and were very good in that early period under Pochettino. He comes with a wealth
01:58of Premier League experience and experience in Europe and he'll be someone that Newcastle
02:03will be very happy to have on board. I think it's a very good appointment for them. I think
02:06it shows ambition. He's one of the most sought-after ones in the world really so it's a really good
02:13appointment for Newcastle. Hopefully he can build on the work Ashcroft did and take the club to the
02:18next level and hopefully be at the club for a number of years and really impose his vision
02:25across the whole club. Speaking about his appointment to the club, he said it's with
02:29immense pride that I accept responsibility of being Newcastle United's new sporting director.
02:33I've seen the recent growth and ambition of the club. This, plus the amazing fan base,
02:37made the decision to join an easy one. I can't wait to help continue the organisation's growth
02:41and long-term competitiveness in all areas of elite football performance. I think that's really
02:46the main thing to take away. He's obviously someone who in the short term will help this
02:50summer, will help with the transfers, but it's really an appointment for the longer term and
02:55implementing that vision and alongside other key figures, Darren Eales, Peter Silverstone and all
02:59them. He'll be really the centre of all this and one that will help Newcastle both on and off the
03:06field really, getting all them pieces in with the academy and around the club, the women's football,
03:13everything around the club basically. He'll be in charge of laying them foundations,
03:16building them blocks and really helping Newcastle hopefully transform over the next few years,
03:22both on and off the pitch. As I said, I think he's got a great experience behind him and
03:26it's a great appointment for Newcastle and hopefully one that will reap the benefits
03:32of the years to come. As I mentioned, the first thing you have to do is get this summer window
03:37sorted, try and get some players in, try and offload some players. Of course,
03:41the best way you can stay up to date with all the latest in gastronomic transfer news,
03:44updates and everything this summer is with the Shields Gazette.