Paul Mitchell will leave Newcastle United this summer and won’t get the chance to oversee the club’s transfer plans.
Newcastle United dropped the bombshell announcement on Tuesday that sporting director Paul Mitchell will leave the club by mutual consent in June.
Mitchell has spent less than a year at St. James’ Park after arriving from Monaco in July 2024 and was hamstrung by PSR restrictions in the transfer market for the entirety.
Newcastle only made a handful of signings, and none of them major, with Mitchell at the helm and had to sell Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh to avoid breaking PSR rules.
However, Eddie Howe still managed to guide the side to Carabao Cup glory and back to the Champions League.
A big summer transfer window is expected this year as Newcastle have more room to spend as they prepare for Europe’s top competition.
However, their transfer strategy is going to change now that Mitchell is departing, with Howe set to play a bigger role in recruitment again.
Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images
Eddie Howe to get more transfer ‘power’
Mitchell’s arrival appeared to undermine Howe’s authority over transfers, leading to a rocky relationship until they agreed to collaborate on Newcastle’s business.
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Now, the i Newspaper reports, Mitchell’s exit and subsequent boardroom reshuffle is set to be a ‘big show of faith’ in the manager’s skill in the transfer market.
Howe reportedly wants Premier League-ready signings this summer and will seemingly ‘assume more transfer power.’
It’s added that head of recruitment Steve Nickson and Andy Howe, the manager’s nephew, who is assistant head of first-team recruitment, could possibly be handed more influence.
Additionally, chief executive Darren Eales will also leave the club this summer.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle transfer record
Sporting directors are all the rage in modern football and there are plenty of possible replacements Newcastle could hire.
Yet, Howe has proven throughout his tenure that he doesn’t really need one, with the manager showing he is more than capable of identifying his own targets.
The long-serving Nickson also plays a crucial role, like identifying Bruno Guimaraes when Mike Ashley still loomed large and then suggesting him to Howe.
But even when Dan Ashworth came in, it’s understood that Howe was still leading decisions on which players to target and did so for most of Newcastle’s signings since the PIF takeover.
That means crucial additions like Alexander Isak, Dan Burn, Nick Pope, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali all came from Howe.
If he can keep his success rate that high, then Newcastle will be just fine without a sporting director.