Newcastle United sporting director Paul Mitchell will finally have an opportunity to strengthen Eddie Howe’s squad this summer.
When Dan Ashworth left Newcastle United in the summer, the Magpies moved quickly to appoint Paul Mitchell as his successor.
Newcastle fans were delighted by Mitchell’s appointment, but his first few months on the job were challenging with reports of tension between Mitchell and Howe.
Ultimately, Newcastle were tied up because of the Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules which stopped the club from being able to invest in new signings.
But Newcastle have finally eased their PSR concerns and Mitchell is planning three major signings in the summer.
Paul Mitchell was criticised for signing Heung-Min Son
Mitchell arrived at St James’ Park with a huge reputation as one of the best sporting directors in football.
Before joining Newcastle, Mitchell spent time at Southampton, Tottenham, RB Leipzig and Monaco. During that time, he was central to some incredible signings.
One of Mitchell’s best signings was the £22m deal that brought Son Heung-Min to Tottenham in 2015. The South Korean forward has spent 10 years with the London club and has scored 173 goals for Spurs – he even won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2021/22.
However, Mitchell was actually heavily criticised by Spurs chiefs when Son struggled in his debut season at Tottenham.
As quoted by OneFootball, Mitchell said: “I took quite a lot of criticism in my first year at Tottenham for some of my decisions and Sonny was kind of at the centre of that, and it was a bit of a learning curve for me; that sometimes players need time.”
“There was this narrative that started to grow internally and externally that he wasn’t a good finisher and I remember one of the staff members saying that to me when I was watching a training session, and I said ‘you’re wrong, because his history shows at two different clubs that he’s a very astute finisher off both sides’.”
Mitchell resigned from his Tottenham role in 2016 – a year after signing Son – but he was eventually proven right that the Korean forward was an excellent signing.
PIF must put trust in Paul Mitchell signings this summer
Throughout his career as a sporting director, Mitchell has never been one to splash the cash on mega-money signings. He prefers to scout out younger, upcoming stars and that will suit Newcastle’s approach perfectly.
Son Heung-Min is the perfect example of a Mitchell signing who turned out to be a bargain buy for a world-class player – eventually.
With Newcastle wanting to sign a right-sided forward this summer just as Spurs did in 2015, PIF will have to trust Mitchell to get it right.
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Newcastle can afford ‘marquee’ signings this summer, but Mitchell and his recruitment team will likely opt to spend smart and invest in the club’s future. It will require patience and support from the fanbase and the club hierarchy, but Mitchell’s track record suggests he usually gets it right.
Some of Mitchell’s other bargain buys include Sadio Mane, Christopher Nkunku and Dele Alli – who all went on to be worth multiples of their initial transfer fee.
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