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Telegraph
03-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Newcastle's targets are going elsewhere and Eddie Howe should be concerned
You cannot lose a transfer window in early June, but you can lose precious momentum and that is the risk for Newcastle United as the glacial pace of decision-making behind the scenes is in danger of hampering progress on the pitch. It was eight days ago, in the aftermath of their final game of the season, that manager Eddie Howe made his feelings clear ahead of a 'crucial summer.' He will surely be feeling frustrated that nothing definitive has happened yet. These are embryonic days, but patience is not endless. Newcastle are heading into the summer with a CEO, Darren Eales, working his notice and a sporting director, Paul Mitchell, who has just announced he will also be leaving at the end of the month. These are the two men who, ultimately, will do the deals for the players Newcastle have targeted. It is far from ideal. The departure of Mitchell is a huge blow. Those that have claimed Howe has won some sort of power struggle with a sporting director he clashed with last summer are wrong. The last thing a manager wants at this stage of a vital summer is to lose the sporting director whose job remit is '90 per cent recruitment' according to Eales. Is this management structure, led by two outgoing senior club employees, conducive to pulling off the sort of rapid transfer moves that Howe has publicly called for? We will know the answer in due course, but the pressure is on. 'Speed is key for us,' said Howe after the Everton game. 'I've reiterated that many times internally. Speed is key because we have to be dynamic, we have to be ready to conclude things very, very quickly because good players don't hang around for long. 'That's always been my thought and my message on recruitment because you can have a period where you think you've got time, but then you can look around very quickly and realise that that time has elapsed and you have missed opportunities that you won't get again. 'That's what we'll be trying, but obviously the reality of that is it's not always in your hands. But we'll be doing our best to do things early.' Beaten to the punch Telegraph Sport spoke to multiple senior figures at the club last week and was told that not only were their top targets identified, they were poised to move for them. The background checks had been made, the right players were there, now they had to push the button and sign them. Every manager hankers for quick signings to be made and Howe has always maintained he wants deals in place for the start of pre-season. There is still plenty of time this month for those signings to be made, but while Newcastle wait to pounce, others are moving decisively. Newcastle really liked Liam Delap, but he has signed for Chelsea. They extensively scouted and agreed that both Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo fitted the profile of the type of players they needed to attract, but both already seem destined for Manchester United. There are other players – Nottingham Forest's Anthony Elanga and Brentford's Antoine Semenyo – who have been discussed and admired to fill the right-sided forward vacancy. Newcastle's interest in Crystal Palace centre back Marc Guehi is long standing –they failed to sign the England international last summer after a long and public pursuit – and has not gone away. Brighton's Joao Pedro is also a player Newcastle are tracking while Eintracht Frankfurt's Hugo Ekitike is another they have been linked with for a long time and have previously failed to sign. There will be others who are being kept as a closely guarded secret in the fear of losing out. Newcastle are not afraid to sign players based abroad, especially as the likes of Sven Botman, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali have been so successful at St James' Park. But can the club get deals done? If they do not, Howe will have every reason to feel aggrieved. He has just led the club to its most successful season in living memory, but did so without making a first-team ready signing since the summer of 2023. The squad is ageing, things were in danger of going stale at the start of last season and this summer needs to be transformative. 'Right decisions, not quick decisions' Telegraph Sport has been told this week there is an air of calm behind the scenes and that everyone is aligned and pulling in the same direction. It was stressed it is vital 'they make the right decisions, not quick decisions' and that 'everyone is confident this will be a successful transfer window' but fans need action, not words. Under Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, everyone knows how ambitious Newcastle are. They have the wealthiest owners on the planet and a stated desire from chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, to be 'number one.' However, there are certain drawbacks of being controlled by a foreign sovereign wealth fund. Nothing moves swiftly. Everything needs to be discussed, debated and finally signed off from Riyadh. It takes a lot of time to get things done. Of course, there are benefits to this approach: the risks of making a mistake are reduced and the fruits of this painstaking process are there for everyone to see since 2021, but it is not just the signing of players that is of concern. It has taken Newcastle eight months in their search for a new CEO to replace Eales, who announced he is stepping down for health reasons in the autumn. The former Real Madrid executive, Canadian David Hopkinson, is the frontrunner to take the job but the appointment is still waiting to be signed off. How long will it take them to find Mitchell's replacement? If it takes as long, Newcastle will not have a sporting director until February next year. You cannot have that level of uncertainty at the top of a football club at any level, let alone one with Newcastle's aspirations and challenges. As for the new stadium, Telegraph Sport revealed back in January the preferred option was to build a new stadium on Leazes Park, adjacent to St James' Park. But there has still been no confirmation. The club said a decision was 'imminent' in 2024 and then claimed it would come in 'early 2025.' We are now in June. A decision is expected to be made public later this month but after so many missed deadlines, you would not bank on it. It is far too early to panic or switch on to attack mode, but Newcastle know who their top transfer targets are. They have been discussed, deliberated on and a shortlist has been whittled down to a very small collection of suitable players. They will not be there for long. When you are trying to sign elite players to improve a team that has won the Carabao Cup and qualified for the Champions League, there are not many of those players around within budget. It should, at the very least, sharpen minds this month. If there is not a sense of urgency to get deals done, perhaps there should be.
New York Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Eddie Howe isn't celebrating Paul Mitchell's exit. Uncertainty is a team-killer
'My job is to get us in five years' time to our ambition,' Paul Mitchell said, not long after his appointment as Newcastle United's sporting director. 'We have to be smarter, more intelligent.' By the time he leaves his post, at the end of June, Mitchell will have lasted barely one of those years. In June 2022, when Dan Ashworth began work as Newcastle's sporting director after four months of gardening leave at Brighton & Hove Albion, he spoke about 'helping the club to grow and achieve long-term success'. Twenty months later, he was again tending his beautiful roses and waiting to join Manchester United. Advertisement For Newcastle and sporting directors, long-term is very much the wrong term. Mitchell's role was '90 per cent recruitment', according to Darren Eales, the chief executive, which by the very blunt metric of actually buying first-team players, makes his tenure 100 per cent unsuccessful, so far at least — Mitchell has another month to shift that dial and the club are pushing to get transfers done. Ashworth, said Mehrdad Ghodoussi — who, along with Amanda Staveley, his wife, initially ran Newcastle post-takeover and were minority owners — would be a 'key hire, the person that drives the football operation, who creates the structure. It's like building a house: if you don't have the right foundations, it will fall down.' To continue that analogy, Ashworth left with the roof not yet fitted and the cement still wet. There is another theme here, too. Over the space of 16 months, Mitchell, Ashworth, Ghodoussi and Staveley will all have departed and so, too, will Eales, who arrived on Tyneside two months after Ashworth and who announced last September that he had been diagnosed with a chronic form of blood cancer. They are all pivotal figures, responsible for running the club, buying players, setting budgets or setting the tone and much else besides. On the pitch, Eddie Howe's team was a model of excellence and stability for the second-half of the season just ended, winning the club's first domestic trophy for 70 years and qualifying for the Champions League. Above him in the boardroom, it has been constant churn. Does this churn matter? Given the Carabao Cup win, a pair of Wembley finals over two years, playing in Europe's leading club competition for two seasons out of three, and successive league finishes of fourth, seventh and fifth, arguably not at all. Who cares what the suits are doing when Howe has discovered alchemy? Advertisement Yet this — categorically — would not be a theory Howe himself subscribes to and those who have portrayed Mitchell's rapid exit as some kind of victory have called it wrong. There was no celebrating. What Howe wants is new players as quickly as possible and his immediate concern was about the knock-on effects of losing the man whose role was supposed to be '90 per cent recruitment'. Howe said as much on Sunday after Newcastle's place in the Champions League next season was cemented. 'Speed is key for us and I've reiterated that many times internally because we have to be dynamic,' he said. 'We have to be ready to complete things very, very quickly because good players don't hang around for long.' Newcastle have not signed a first-team-ready player for three consecutive transfer windows. Last summer, they sold Elliot Anderson, who had been earmarked for a significant role, to Nottingham Forest to help balance the books. They also sold Yankuba Minteh, who his since made 32 Premier League appearances for Brighton as a right-winger, a position Howe has wanted to reinforce for years. In January, they trimmed more fat they didn't really have, selling Miguel Almiron back to Atlanta United and allowing Lloyd Kelly to join Juventus, initially on loan but with an obligation to buy. In financial terms, those deals were necessary and represented decent business, but in football terms, which is what Howe cares about, it left his squad desperately shallow. After all that, they now have headroom under the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules (PSR). They have scope for manoeuvre — and a good thing too, because the squad needs a significant refresh. Howe wants a goalkeeper, a right-winger, a centre-half and potentially a forward. Targets have been deliberated over and fixed upon. Advertisement What he doesn't need is confusion or delay. In his leaving statement, Mitchell said 'the club is in a fantastic position to continue building', but the architect left with Ashworth's defection and now the contractors and engineers are going too. When it comes to the bigger-picture stuff, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), Newcastle's majority owners, are notoriously slow to move, and an interim structure needs to be capable of swift decisions. The club say it will be, but judgement can only be deferred. Mitchell's departure, in tandem with Eales — and at least partially caused by it, given their long-standing relationship — means a second consecutive summer of upheaval for Newcastle and Howe who, at this stage, has no inkling of who he will be reporting to next season and who his immediate boss will be. This feels sub-optimal. Football and football people crave certainty. Players want to know precisely what their roles are and to look around their dressing-room knowing team-mates feel the same. Managers want to know what to expect from their players and feel confident that tactical instructions will be carried out. From above, they want authority and backing. Uncertainty is a team-killer. When Staveley and Ghodoussi left Newcastle last July, Howe lost two huge allies and advocates. The three of them had worked closely together in the early days post-takeover, forging a tight, intimate relationship and he was kept informed of everything, good or bad. They left a vacuum. Newcastle felt like less of a family and more corporate. When Mitchell arrived, Howe was given scant notice. If that was bruising, then Mitchell's forthright, brusque personality and desire to make his own mark at Newcastle did not help the healing process. 'It was the wrong attitude to come in with,' an associate of Howe said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'If the club was really at a low point then you could understand that idea of changing everything. It didn't need that. It just needed a bit of support.' After the PSR shambles, when Newcastle held negotiations with Liverpool over selling Anthony Gordon, Chelsea enquired about Alexander Isak, and after Mitchell led a long, fruitless pursuit of Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi, Newcastle's dressing-room was rife with uncertainty. Every player knew they had a price. With no quality additions, they were less convinced about Newcastle's ambitions. Howe felt less certain in his relationships. He was less clear about what the club's vision was, so how could he persuade his players? In a sport of marginal gains, Newcastle began the season a few percentage points off. They were inconsistent, either nabbing results while not playing well or playing better but proving incapable of seeing games out. With no reinforcements and little support network, it was left to Howe and his backroom team to shake players out of it. It meant months of introspection and effort. Advertisement 'No one fully understands apart from Eddie and his staff just how difficult this season has been,' the associate said. 'Things could have gone very differently.' This was the byproduct of uncertainty. In the meantime, Howe and Mitchell muddled along. They were not stags butting heads. The early tension had first been around personality and then transfers and with Newcastle unable or unwilling to buy anybody, transfers were largely irrelevant. They were never going to be close mates, but Howe put his head down and got on with it. Perhaps that tension would have flared up again this summer. Perhaps Mitchell's expertise and experience would have come to the fore and everyone would have been delighted. Perhaps his legacy will turn out to be the 'fantastic position', he spoke about and Newcastle will get their deals done, which is the minimum Howe deserves after a truly transformational season. Howe has delivered an elite performance. Newcastle's team operated at an elite level for six months, showing what they are capable of. Their marketing and commercial departments are getting there after long years of shrivelled ambition, but in terms of infrastructure and facilities they are not yet an elite club. 'That's what we want to be,' Howe said when The Athletic put these points to him last weekend. 'That's what we're desperate to continue to be. But if I answer that with a definitive yes, I'm not sure it would be wise. I'll let you judge. But we crave that, we want that. Now my summer will be focused purely on trying to make us stronger and better for every challenge we're going to face.' But now he will also have to focus on forging new partnerships, with Eales' replacement and Mitchell's, whatever their job descriptions are and whatever the new structure is. Once again, there will be different people who are tasked with running Newcastle or who are instrumental in shaping what Newcastle should be, either as a squad or as a club. To a certain extent, Howe knew what he would be getting with Mitchell: a headache. Now he doesn't know again. In part, this is to do with circumstances. In an ideal world, a CEO would appoint the sporting director who would seek out the best fit as manager, but at Newcastle they did it the other way around. Equally, nobody could have predicted Eales' illness and, after this extraordinary and rewarding season, he must now belatedly take care of himself and his family. Advertisement To return to the start, there will be no winner from Mitchell's departure if, come August, Howe looks around his dressing room and again sees uncertainty flicker in his players' eyes. And to borrow again from Ghodoussi's analogy, if building a club is really like building a house, do Newcastle yet have the 'right foundations'? Or are they once more being knocked down in order to start over? One thing is certain: their master craftsman cannot be expected to keep picking up the pieces.
New York Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Inside Paul Mitchell's Newcastle exit: Internal shock, Reuben's reluctance and the Howe dynamic
Paul Mitchell has suggested he can be a 'nightmare' to work with. His closest allies rave about his strengths, but even they attest to his unique and direct style. Mitchell is conscious of that and it is why the identity of his direct boss is important to him. The apparent breakdown in his relationship with Daniel Levy reportedly led Mitchell to resign at Tottenham Hotspur in 2016. Chief executive Darren Eales was also a critical factor in the now-43-year-old cutting short his planned break from football to join Newcastle United last July. Advertisement The pair briefly worked together at Spurs and Eales convinced Mitchell they could shape the St James' Park project. From the start, Mitchell indicated to owners that his Tyneside tenure was likely to be inextricably linked with Eales'. Within three months, Eales announced he had blood cancer and would be stepping down. That left Mitchell with a decision of his own, especially given Eddie Howe's established power base, and the sporting director has been considering his future for a while. A final decision was only communicated upwards on Tuesday morning — Jamie Reuben, the co-owner, and officials from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) did try to convince Mitchell to stay, so the sporting director promised a firm judgement at a long-planned post-season meeting — and then hastily relayed to supporters. Just as Mitchell's arrival on July 4 had not been trailed, nor was his departure. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the club chairman, watched Newcastle's final-day loss to Everton on Sunday before holding meetings with Mitchell and Howe, during which the upcoming transfer window was discussed. The head coach stressed the need for quick action and dynamism in the market. Within two days, the sporting director announced his departure after less than a year. Despite a fractious start to Howe and Mitchell's relationship last summer, there was no suggestion, publicly or privately, of bitterness or an angry parting of ways. Mitchell and Howe's working partnership had built over time and become more than functional — with conversations as recently as Monday, when Callum Wilson's future was discussed (an exit appears increasingly likely) — yet Newcastle's on-field success across 2024-25, which brought a first domestic trophy in 70 years and Champions League qualification, only strengthened the head coach's authority. Advertisement The apparent shift in direction last summer towards Howe being less directly involved in transfers, while retaining the final say, was implemented on Eales' watch and, with the CEO going, perhaps the recruitment model will be tweaked once more. 'Boundaries' was a word Howe repeatedly used last July to cite his unease at Mitchell's arrival, and that may also explain the sporting director's uncertainty about working for an unknown boss with fresh ideas. Mitchell is not believed to have another job lined up. The expectation is he will take time out to spend with his family, as was his intention before Eales' approach. Most club staff were shocked by the news, only learning about it via the club's statement at 1pm on Tuesday. Only a select few high-ranking figures inside Newcastle had, for a matter of weeks, known Mitchell's exit was likely, but the swiftness of his departure surprised some who had expected he would see out the summer window, rather than leave by the June 30 accountancy deadline. Over the past few days, Mitchell had been in contact with directors of other clubs, agents and even potential recruits to Newcastle's staff — for roles ranging from fresh senior positions to lower-level jobs — and he was operating as normal, with no indication he was going. Given the previous tension between them, Mitchell's impending departure has been portrayed by some as essentially representing a win for Howe. Should Howe's previous influence over recruitment be reasserted, as seems likely, then it could be seen as a victory, albeit a Pyrrhic one — another summer of instability is not to the head coach's benefit following three windows without a signing to improve the first XI. Howe declared on Sunday that 'speed is key' for Newcastle and, while targets have now been finalised and Mitchell will remain in situ until June 30, Newcastle will not have a sporting director or a CEO when pre-season training commences on July 7 (though Eales' departure date has yet to be confirmed). Advertisement No successor to Mitchell has been identified — despite premature links to figures inside and outside the club, including Dougie Freedman, who turned Newcastle down last spring — and the media release did not even state that the search for a direct replacement had begun. There have been claims that another executive restructuring may be considered, whereby the sporting director position is potentially changed or replaced, though such significant calls would ideally be left to a chief executive. Senior sources insist Newcastle are getting closer to appointing a new CEO, but the process has been ongoing for eight months. James Bunce, the performance director brought in by Mitchell, is not following him out, either, and is due to return for pre-season, though the make-up of the next executive team may influence the future of several employees. Regardless, several insiders have reiterated Mitchell's declaration that 'the club is in a fantastic position to continue building' during the summer window. A goalkeeper, centre-back, right-winger and potentially a striker are being sought — Ipswich centre-forward Liam Delap, Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, Brentford attacker Bryan Mbeumo and Burnley shot-stopper James Trafford are among players heavily discussed — and the recruitment department feel they are ready to move swiftly, even if a signing during the early-June window appears ambitious. Mercifully, there is no need to sell by June 30 to satisfy PSR (the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules) either, so a repeat of last year's mad dash is not envisaged. Mitchell's exit does not dilute Newcastle's conviction that none of their big players are for sale, either. Keeping Alexander Isak is priority No 1. Once again, an interim transfer-committee-style operation may be in place from July 1, just as it was during the January window of 2022 and for the first part of last summer, following Dan Ashworth's move to Manchester United. However, Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, the former co-owners, have since departed, with Mitchell and Eales to follow, leaving a partial vacuum. Even insiders accept that having extensive plans is one thing, but actually executing them successfully in a competitive market will be challenging. Who handles the minutiae of important tasks, such as leading contract negotiations with present and prospective players, must still be clarified. Advertisement But other experienced figures remain and will be further empowered, with proven processes already in place and a staffing reshuffle not deemed necessary. Andy Howe, the assistant head of recruitment, is influential behind the scenes; trusted by Eddie Howe, his uncle, and valued by the owners, he identified Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Tino Livramento, among others, and has increasingly become a point of contact with leading agents. Steve Nickson, the head of recruitment, scouted Sven Botman and Yankuba Minteh, has been in position since 2017 and will offer his expertise and global connections, which have further expanded into South America and Africa recently. Eddie Howe is also meticulous in his due diligence on players, watching hours of footage and seeking exhaustive background checks. The head coach has the ultimate say on transfers and will push ownership to enact his blueprint early. For the next month, Mitchell will continue as normal, with greater clarity to be delivered on how the transitional framework will look. There is still time for Mitchell to bring in only a second first-team signing during his watch — after the initial £10million ($13.5m) outlay on William Osula, who was always viewed as a 'project player', last August — with the pre-Club World Cup window operating from June 1 to 10, then the second window opening on June 16. He has been financially hamstrung due to PSR constraints. GO DEEPER Explained: The Club World Cup transfer window and how contracts will work Embodying Newcastle's 2024-25, Mitchell's tenure has been turbulent. Howe was given less than 24 hours' notice of his arrival and, initially, the pair clashed, leading the head coach to raise doubts about his own future at Adidas HQ in July. When Mitchell clumsily questioned whether Newcastle's post-takeover recruitment had been 'fit for purpose' during a media roundtable in September — he had intended to suggest processes needed modernising, rather than to decry previous signings, as it sounded — Howe felt compelled to publicly defend his transfer record. Advertisement Mitchell's failed (public) pursuit of Guehi throughout August also left a negative impression with some supporters, though the sporting director did only arrive mid-window. He was also operating in challenging PSR circumstances, the scale of which perhaps even surprised him. Had Guehi joined, further sales beyond those of Miguel Almiron and Lloyd Kelly for a combined £31m would have been required to balance the books. Extracting a fee rising to around £20m for Kelly from Juventus — the defender started only four league games after joining on a free from Bournemouth — remains scarcely believable and underlines Mitchell's negotiating skills. The club's inability to spend meant that Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis, two young defenders who Mitchell put background work into trying to line up, moved to Manchester City in January instead. Exciting youth-level additions have been championed by Mitchell, however, with Vakhtang Salia, Baran Yildiz and Kyle Fitzgerald brought in. Antonio Cordero will join from Malaga, despite interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona, with promotional shots already taken. Although men's first-team recruitment captures the headlines, Mitchell's influence runs through the club. He has continued to explore the potential for a multi-club model, been involved in plans for a future state-of-the-art training ground, appointed Bunce and promoted Jack Ross to a strategic role, forging relationships with partner clubs. Mitchell also championed the women's team, striking an excellent relationship with Becky Langley, the manager, and providing increased resources. He appointed Grace Williams, who is set to arrive from Crystal Palace as women's director of football. Following a difficult start, Howe and Mitchell also built a decent working relationship, with 'collaboration' becoming a buzzword for both. That improved communication would have been tested across the course of a vital window, but instead, the head coach is braced for another summer of flux in the boardroom.
Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Newcastle United sporting director Paul Mitchell to leave after one year
Paul Mitchell agreed to leave his role as Newcastle United's sporting director on Tuesday morning, two months after first informing Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund that he was considering his position. He is departing the club by 'mutual consent'. The Newcastle chief executive, Darren Eales, will also leave his position at St James' Park next month. Eales has a chronic form of blood cancer. It is thought Eddie Howe, the head coach, found out on Tuesday morning, shortly before it was announced, that Mitchell was going. Mitchell will stay on at Newcastle until the end of June and The Times understands he will work in an advisory role until his departure. Howe will have more say on transfers in the immediate term, with input from Steve Nickson, the club's head of recruitment. Mitchell, 43, had previously worked with Eales at Tottenham Hotspur in 2014 and had spent time with him in the United States when he was the global technical director at Red Bull Soccer International. His appointment last summer reunited the pair, who are said to be very close. Mitchell is believed to have told club bosses that he would stay at St James' Park for as long as Eales was at the club. Newcastle have whittled down their shortlist of replacements for Eales, whose successor could be in office in a matter of weeks. Mitchell signed a three-year contract when he became sporting director, succeeding Dan Ashworth, who had made a controversial move to Old Trafford, but less than three months later Eales's diagnosis was made public, as was his intention to step down from his position as chief executive. At the start of September Mitchell caused controversy in his first high-profile interview when he questioned elements of the transfer policy before he joined Newcastle. That annoyed Howe, who had been part of the transfer committee that landed players such as Alexander Isak, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães. However, despite a difficult start to their relationship, and Howe publicly voicing his unhappiness about any criticism of the transfer record under his stewardship, the pair have since formed a harmonious working relationship. Newcastle had to sell players in the winter transfer window to comply with the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). Privately, Newcastle sources believe a top player would have had to be sold in June, an Isak or an Anthony Gordon, for under market value to avoid a points penalty if they had not agreed deals that brought in £25million for Miguel Almirón and Lloyd Kelly, who were sold to Atlanta United and Juventus respectively. Newcastle were unable to be competitive in the transfer market during Mitchell's time at the club because of mounting concerns over PSR. They failed to negotiate a deal for the England central defender Marc Guéhi last summer, with Crystal Palace demanding a fee in excess of £65million. Mitchell was eager to recruit more international talent and Newcastle have won the race to sign the 18-year-old Malaga winger Antonio Cordero. One of Mitchell's most important appointments was James Bunce as performance director. Bunce has been influential in cutting the amount of days lost by first-team players to injury. Bunce will remain in his role. 'I'd like to thank everyone at Newcastle United for their support over the last year, including Eddie Howe, the players, staff, owners and fans,' Mitchell said. 'I'm leaving at a time that is right for me and the club, particularly with Darren Eales — someone who I have worked so closely with in my career — moving on soon. The club is in great hands, on and off the pitch, and is in a fantastic position to continue building.'
New York Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Paul Mitchell leaves role as Newcastle United sporting director
Paul Mitchell has left his position as Newcastle United's sporting director after less than 12 months in the role. Mitchell was appointed Newcastle's new sporting director in July of last year, ending the club's four-month search for Dan Ashworth's successor. He will now depart with the club's CEO Darren Eales, who had previously recruited Mitchell to Tottenham Hotspur in 2014, stepping down in the near future due to health reasons. Advertisement Mitchell leaves with the full respect of the hierarchy, technical team, coaching staff and players. His exit is not expected to impact the summer's transfer business with the club having already identified clear targets during meetings over a number of months. Mitchell said: 'I'd like to thank everyone at Newcastle United for their support over the last year, including Eddie Howe, Becky Langley, the players, staff, owners and fans. It has been an honour to be part of the club and to work with some incredible people. 'I'm leaving at a time that is right for me and the club, particularly with Darren Eales — someone who I have worked so closely with in my career — moving on soon. 'The club is in great hands on and off the pitch, and is in a fantastic position to continue building. I'd like to wish everyone connected with Newcastle United a bright and successful future.' Mitchell defended Newcastle's lack of business during a summer window last year that Alan Shearer, Newcastle's record goalscorer, described as 'embarrassing'. The Tyneside club did not add any additions to Eddie Howe's first-team squad having failed with bids to sign Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi and Nottinham Forest's Anthony Elanga. Mitchell joined Newcastle with a wealth of experience in scouting and recruitment, having worked at Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, RB Leipzig, and Monaco. However, despite being able to keep hold of integral players like Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak, his first summer with the club was far from a success with Newcastle's difficulties in the transfer window being highlighted by their failure to sign Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi. Following Newcastle's difficult summer transfer window, Mitchell sat down with reporters at St James' Park and fronted up and discussed the club's failure to improve their first XI, his relationship with manager Eddie Howe and those links to the England job, as well as the club's overall recruitment strategy. Advertisement There was no one-word response or short reply when it was put to him that the transfer window was a 'failure'. 'There are things we got wrong in our strategy, for sure,' Mitchell said. 'If we could have signed a player that we actively felt could make a really good squad better, would we? Of course, we would have done.' Despite the lack of additions Newcastle went on to qualify for the Champions League, securing their place in next year's competition despite defeat by Everton on the final day of the Premier League season. (Yann Coatsaliou/AFP via Getty Images)
