Paul Mitchell is yet to really flex his muscles as Newcastle United’s sporting director.
His first summer with Newcastle United did not go to plan, with Paul Mitchell failing to make any major signings.
Mitchell tried to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace, but that transfer pursuit ended in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Newcastle’s deadline day bid for Anthony Elanga also fell short.
It has resulted in quite the fallout at St James’ Park, with tension behind the scenes between Paul Mitchell and Eddie Howe. However, the hope is that their relationship is now improving, with Mitchell and Howe recently holding fresh talks.
Newcastle interviewing for new recruitment hire
It has not been a great start to life on Tyneside for Mitchell, but his impact will be seen in the long-term rather than the short-term.
He is eager to revamp the club’s recruitment strategy, with Mitchell keen for Newcastle to sign more high potential youngsters that they can grow into first-team players or be sold for a profit. That is something that Liverpool have done very well, for example, with the sales of Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho bringing in more than £50million this summer.
And, as part of Mitchell’s new plan, the Magpies are set to beef up their recruitment department.
According to the Athletic, Newcastle have already interviewed candidates for a new senior recruitment role at St James’ Park.
What Paul Mitchell said about Newcastle’s previous recruitment plan
While there has been tension, Mitchell’s new recruitment strategy is being brought in to help Howe. They need each other to succeed, but that success will not come overnight.
The problem that many supporters have had with Mitchell is the way he has gone about things since his arrival. That interview he did was a real shambles, and did more bad than good.
During that interview, Mitchell addressed the club’s transfer policy when he arrived as Dan Ashworth’s successor. He told the Daily Mail that it simply was not ‘fit for purpose’.
“I think it’s difficult coming into a predefined strategy,” he said.
“Should our scouting and recruitment be driven more extensively with a wider reaching net? It definitely should, because this is becoming a really nuanced space now, when you can’t just capitally fund everything every year and buy loads of players at peak age and peak price. Of course it needs to be, and that’s the responsibility of me, the scouting team and Eddie.
“Is it fit for purpose? Not last winter gone, the winter before that. Is it fit for purpose in the modern game? Because other clubs that have adopted a different approach over time, with more intelligence, more data-informed than we are, actually prospered in this window. That’s where we have to grow to be now.
“You look at the money we have invested up to this point, £250million net over the last two-and-a-half years. Was our model in place to be able to spend more to the levels we would have liked to enhance the team? I don’t think it was, because we haven’t sold a player during that time, barring what we were forced to do through PSR.
“We didn’t have the sales window we thought we would have – and we have to look at that strategy as well, was that right? It was all aligned with the head coach. There definitely has to be a more strategic approach that we haven’t had the last two-and-a-half years. I’ll know whether we’ve done a good job in five years’ time.”
In the aftermath of that interview, Eddie Howe defended his signings as Newcastle manager. And so he should, as they have largely been very successful.
But the hope will be that Mitchell transforms Newcastle’s recruitment department for the better, as his reputation when it comes to signing and selling players is up there with the best.
Now he is aiming to enhance Newcastle’s recruitment department with a new hire, and it will be interesting to see who is brought to St James’ Park as Mitchell continues his mission to make the Magpies an elite club in every department.
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