Following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s impending purchase of a 25% stake in Manchester United, the Red Devils have once again been linked with Paul Mitchell.
The Independent said in March 2023 that Ratcliffe wanted to bring in Paul Mitchell as United’s sporting director.
The former RB Leipzig, Tottenham, Southampton, and MK Dons man has recently left his position at Monaco, where he was sporting director.
So now, Ben Jacobs reckons that Mitchell wants a job at United and has already moved to the North West of England. What could he potentially bring to the plater at Old Trafford? Well – here are his ten best signings.
Sadio Mane
After scoring 45 goals and providing 32 assists from 87 games for Austrian giants Red Bull Salzburg, Southampton and Mitchell signed the Senegalese forward for £10m in September 2014.
Mane had two full seasons at St Mary’s before being snapped up by Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool for £34m. The African superstar scored 21 goals in 67 Premier League appearances for the Saints.
Mane went on to win the Champions League and Premier League at Anfield, cementing himself as a club legend, before departing to Bayern Munich and then Al Nassr FC to play with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Louis van Gaal was in charge of Manchester United at the time when Mane moved to Liverpool and the Dutchman later revealed that he wanted to bring the forward to Old Trafford (Sky Sports).
Dusan Tadic
The Serbian was signed by Southampton for a fee believed to be £10.9m (BBC Sport) from FC Twente in the same summer window as Mane. Tadic was the Saints’ first signing since Ronald Koeman replaced Mauricio Pochettino as manager.
The attacking midfielder had four seasons in England before being signed by current United coach Erik ten Hag at Ajax. Whilst under the Dutchman, he elevated his career to new heights.
He was an integral part of that glorious 2019 Champions League side that defeated the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus.
The 34-year-old now plays for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and captains the Serbia national team.
Tadic also has a winner at Old Trafford on his CV from back in November 2015 when Koeman’s Saints won 1-0.
Toby Alderweireld
Along with Mane and Tadic, the Belgium international arrived from Atletico Madrid on a season-long loan.
The previous season, the center-back made 20 appearances for Diego Simeone’s side who won La Liga and reached the Champions League final.
After a campaign with the Saints, the 33-year-old was snapped up by Tottenham in July 2015. Mitchell became the Spurs Chief Scout in November 2014.
He’s now in the latter stages of his career at 34, playing for Belgian Pro League club Royal Antwerp.
Dele Alli
What a piece of business from Paul Mitchell this was. Spurs signed the talented youngster from MK Dons for £5m in February 2015 before loaning him straight back to the League One side for the remainder of the campaign.
Alli took the Premier League by storm and quickly established himself as one of the best players across Europe.
Under the tutelage of Mauricio Pochettino, Alli shone in north London but he hasn’t rekindled that devastating form since the Argentine departed Spurs.
Alli’s career has been on a downward spiral ever since and he unfortunately will never reach his immense potential.
Heung-Min Son
Tottenham signed the South Korean from Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen in August 2015 for a reported £22m. Which now looks like an absolute steal.
A bucket load of goals later, Son is still tearing it up in the Premier League at 31 and is showing no sign of stopping.
The South Korean is now captain in North London and will surely go down as a club legend. This is arguably Mitchell’s finest signing ever.
Kieran Trippier
Spurs signed the right-back from Burnley in June 2015 and he spent four seasons at the club before moving to Atletico Madrid where he won La Liga.
Following Kyle Walker’s move to Manchester City in the summer of 2017, Trippier became Pochettino’s number-one right-back and was part of the Spurs side that reached the 2019 Champions League final.
The England international moved back to the Premier League in January and became PIF’s first-ever Newcastle United signing.
He is now one of the world’s best full-backs and proudly captains the Toon.
Ibrahima Konate
The Frenchman was snapped up by Paul Mitchell and Leipzig from Sochaux at the age of 17 in July 2017. Konate made 20 appearances for the first team in his maiden campaign in German football.
The 22-year-old quickly established himself as one of the stars in the Leipzig team and was signed by Liverpool for £35m in 2021.
Konate has been a solid figure for them ever since.
Konrad Laimer
The Austrian joined RB Leipzig from RB Salzburg in July 2017.
The box-to-box midfielder has established himself as one of Europe’s finest sixes, which after six long years at Leipzig finally earned him a move to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
At just 26 years of age – who knows where he could end up in the future.
Amadou Haidara
The Malian international was another player to make the switch from Salzburg to Leipzig. The tough-tackling defensive midfielder has also been linked with a move to Old Trafford in the past
The midfielder, at just 25, has fallen somewhat out of favour at Leipzig but still has a shot at moving elsewhere in the future. At United? Never say never.
Christopher Nkunku
What a piece of business it was by Leipzig and Paul Mitchell to bring the forward to Germany from PSG in July 2019.
The French international was been directly involved in 50 goals in 2022, 20 assists from 50 matches – mind-boggling stats.
Ralf Rangnick reportedly urged United to sign Nkunku in 2022, according to ESPN, but obviously, as we know it was Chelsea who eventually obtained his signature.
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