Paul Mitchell is reportedly in line to be the new Manchester United sporting director if Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority bid for the club gets ratified.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s takeover of Manchester United, despite being a minority investment for now, seems to be ready to kick into high gear if it is approved by the Glazer family.
The 70-year-old petrochemical billionaire seems keen on appointing former AS Monaco man Paul Mitchell to the club with the 42-year-old seen as the ideal sporting director at Old Trafford.
The Manchester-born sporting director certainly has experience in the Premier League at Southampton & Tottenham and it now seems like Mitchell is seen as the man to come in and fix the recruitment and structural issues at the club.
Mitchell uncertainty
The report from The Telegraph claims that despite Mitchell being the overwhelming favourite for the role, there is still some scepticism about the exact scope of the role on offer.
Some believe that the job would simply be a subservient role to the Glazer family, who would still own 75% of the club and Mitchell’s remit would be unclear.
The report goes on to say that Dan Ashworth, currently at Newcastle United, is another name in the frame but the compensation fee needed for the former Brighton & Hove Albion and West Brom technical director may well be prohibitive if United were to make a move for the Englishman.
Ten Hag’s wish
Interestingly, the report also goes on to say that Erik ten Hag is keen to retain the power he wields when it comes to player recruitment. The Dutchman, along with the Glazer family, have a power of veto and the former Ajax boss is keen for that to remain.
The Glazer family have always been unwilling to give power at the club to a sporting director so the fear is that, whether it’s Mitchell or Ashworth, they wouldn’t have the power needed to make the decisions that are necessary at the club.
It does seem that Ratcliffe has a plan at Old Trafford and the hope will be that these ambitious plans that the Englishman has come to fruition.
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