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.
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