Newcastle United sporting director Paul Mitchell is leaving the Magpies by mutual consent in a shock exit ahead of the summer.
Mitchell arrived in the summer as the Magpies’ new sporting director after previous roles in scouting and club development at Southampton, Tottenham, RB Leipzig and Monaco.
He took over from Dan Ashworth, whose departure to Manchester United was finally confirmed in early July 2024 after months of negotiations.
But on Tuesday afternoon, Daily Mail chief football reporter Craig Hope wrote on X: ‘I understand Paul Mitchell will be leaving Newcastle United by mutual consent. Club announcement imminent.’
Odysseas Vlachodimos, Will Osula and Lloyd Kelly joined over the summer, while Lewis Hall’s loan deal from Chelsea became permanent – but there was disappointment that more signings didn’t follow.
And Mitchell criticised the recruitment department in September and insisted Newcastle needed to improve their strategy in forthcoming transfer windows.
Mitchell said: “There are things we got wrong in our strategy for sure. Me coming in when I did probably wasn’t the best timing for the organisation but what it has done is allow me to witness a process.
“As custodians of this club, we can’t just keep spending, spending, spending because at some point that won’t enable the club to facilitate its goals.
“I don’t think any Newcastle fan wants to see this club in a place where other clubs were last season with docked points (or) financial penalties because that can really affect our growth.
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“Should our scouting and recruitment be driven more extensively with a wider reaching net? It definitely should be because this is becoming a really nuanced space now. You can’t just capital fund everything every year and buy loads of players at peak age and peak price.
“Was, let’s say, the scouting network, the lengths and breadths of our process and our strategies, including the influence of Eddie Howe, bigger and broader enough? Probably not. And that’s the bit we analyse to be better. That’s the bit we have to adjust and modernise.”
Eddie Howe wanted to sign a new centre-back in Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and a new right winger but Mitchell was unable to get deals over the line before the transfer deadline.
That led to The Sun insisting that the duo ‘clashed over transfers and the team’s playing style since Mitchell was appointed in July’ but Howe now has the ‘backing from a key club chief’ in form of CEO Darren Eales.
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Mitchell’s interview is ‘believed to have inflamed the existing tensions’ and ‘one source questioned if all three [including Eales] could continue working together’.
Howe and Mitchell ‘got off on the wrong foot in July’, while the report added that a ‘meeting between Mitchell and the players also went badly, while several members of Howe’s coaching staff also expressed concerns at his combative approach’.
The Newcastle manager, who has had great success as Magpies boss, was left ‘unimpressed by Mitchell’s transfer dealings’ and Howe has ‘privately expressed frustration at the limited incomings — while Mitchell blamed the manager for his inflexibility over targets’.
There have been rumours that Alexander Isak has been the source of lots of interest ahead of the summer transfer window – but their recent qualification for the Champions League has fans confident that the Sweden international will stay.
However, reports in Spain are claiming that Isak’s move to Barcelona is ‘getting closer’ as they look to seal a long-term replacement for Robert Lewandowski.
Newcastle supporters do not need to fear, though, as the report insists the Catalan giants ‘do not plan to sign a centre forward in this summer transfer window’.
Instead, Isak is ‘a candidate to take over from Robert Lewandowski in 2026’ with his ‘continued presence at the English club for another season gives Barca time to plan and prepare for 2026’.
Lewandowski’s ‘time as a regular starter is coming to an end’ under Hansi Flick and Barcelona are ‘already working with the expectation that 2026 will be his last year as a Blaugrana’.
Barcelona are ‘confident that if Isak remains at Newcastle next season, his contractual and sporting situation could facilitate his departure in the summer of 2026’ while ‘the club will then have more financial muscle to compete with other major European clubs.’