PAUL MITCHELL was appointed as Newcastle United’s sporting director in July, and has spent the last two months overseeing the final stages of the transfer window.

He has also found himself wrestling with the challenges of meeting the Premier League’s PSR requirements, building a relationship with Eddie Howe and planning an overhaul of Newcastle’s recruitment and scouting operation.

Here, he discusses a range of issues that have presented themselves during his brief Tyneside tenure…


THE PURSUIT OF MARC GUEHI

“Is there a point of value for every single player and did maybe this football club need to draw a line in the sand of ‘We’re not going to overpay?’ Probably looking at the players we have signed – and we’ve signed some really good players – could we say that some of those players potentially cost more money than they should have in the market at that current context? You probably could have that argument and discussion.

“This club can come out and say we really like this player and think he could bring benefit to this squad, but it is at any cost? Is it at financial risk to the organisation and our growth and our plan? I don’t think we should do that. That’s a personal choice. Others might have a different opinion on that, but I do take that part of my job seriously.

“The (Newcastle tax) was a real thing. It's about setting precedents to the market that we will pay fair value for the right profile (of player). It shouldn't be misconceived of a lack of ambition, I just think that's the model you have to work to in the modern game now.”


THE TRANSFER WINDOW AS A WHOLE

“We did ultimately add to the squad. The role of a sporting director is always looking at the bigger picture. We added value. Turning Lewis Hall into a full-time Newcastle player, with the experiences he had at the end of last season, adds value. It adds an upturn in the ability of the team to perform. Sandro (Tonali) coming back from a year out is a new addition to the squad. Lloyd Kelly, a new addition, gives us multi-functionality from left centre-back to left back.

“There were additions. William (Osula) coming in was a strategic investment by us all. We felt with Alex (Isak) and Callum (Wilson) and then adding a younger one to succession plan and over time, that was the right type of hire that I was involved in. We looked at the window. There were targets. Could there have been more? I would say potentially.”


THE NEED FOR AN OVERHAUL

“There hasn’t been a clear strategy over the last five years to say, once we get to this point, can we keep enhancing the team with the same level of investment? I don’t think that was factored into the strategies we had and that is a learning for everyone.

“I think we have to be more global in our vision of the players we sign. 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, when you just can't capitally fund everything every year and buy loads of players at peak age and peak price.

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“Of course it needs to be, and that's the responsibility of me, the scouting team, the recruitment team and Eddie (Howe). To do that, look at that, and ask, ‘Is it fit for purpose?’ Is it fit for purpose in the modern game, with the modern challenges? Because other clubs that have maybe adopted a different approach over time, with more intelligence, maybe more data-informed than we are, actually prospered, didn't they, this window?

“I think that's where we have to grow to be now. It’s kind of the next phase of the growth of this project. We have to become better in this area of expertise.”


SELLING PLAYERS

“We didn’t have the sales window we thought we would have – and we have to look at that strategy as well, was that right?

“I think you look at the teams that have really heavily spent this summer, they've sold players at certain points in the last couple of years, and that has helped fund their spends this year.

“We haven’t done that in the last two-and-a-half years. They come in equal measure, you know, and that's the responsibility of the holistic club, from the head coach, who is very widely influencing all of these decisions, to myself in my new responsibility as the sporting director, to the CEO, to the overarching business.”


PLAYERS IN LAST YEAR OF CONTRACT

“I will sit down with Eddie. We will go through it individually - where they are today impacting performance, and where they’ll be in the next one-to-two years. We will make decisions around that.”


AVOIDING A REPEAT OF JUNE FIRE-SALE

“We were in constant dialogue – Eddie, myself, Darren (Eales) and the rest of the business – to make sure that (breaching PSR) didn’t happen. Decisions we have made, and decisions we will continue to make, will be very much with that in mind. I think even Eddie said it was his hardest period of a transfer window, in June and July, because that period was so unknown.

“I think the job that was done was admirable. My feeling, coming in in mid-July, was that there was definitely a real clarity of, ‘We don’t want to live through that again’. We got away with it by the skin of our teeth, and we have to make sure that we don’t end up back there any time soon because we just survived.

“That’s why we are really analysing strategy, making sure we’re fit for purpose, global reach, player profiling – all of these things will come together to help us avoid a similar situation in the future. As I sit here today, I can say that there’s nothing that should be coming that should mean we find ourselves in a similar position.”


RELATIONSHIP WITH HOWE

“We have a lot of commonality. We did our apprenticeships at Bournemouth and Southampton. We were both quite young when we retired. We started this journey quite young and didn’t finish big successful careers.

(Image: PA)

“There is commonality in terms of our vision for the team and our philosophy. That helps build relationships. If someone’s philosophy is at A and mine is at Z, you’re going to struggle to find that blend and common ground. I don’t see that being a factor with us.

“The way we see the game, we’re very aggressive, especially here (at St James’ Park), that’s the way I like the team to play as well. The types of signings - very physical, dynamic but must be able to use the ball to a certain level. We’ve had some really good conversations.”


AMBITIONS FOR THE SEASON

“With the current quality of individuals we have and collective experience, with the current quality of head coach we have, should we be getting into Europe in some context this year? I think that is a realistic ambition.

“I think we are a good team, and I think last year there were a lot of different contributing factors that still need to be assessed, I think there were a lot of different challenges that this club for a long time hadn't faced before, that we no longer have.

“Keeping your best players, that was a challenge for us this year, to keep our better players, to keep the drivers of the team, the talent, the quality, that was something we had to work hard towards, and I think we succeeded.

“So European football as an ambition is a realistic one. I think that has to be the challenge for us all.”