Newcastle United sporting director Paul Mitchell is putting together a handover ahead of his June 30 exit.
With a number of deals in the air, Mitchell’s exit could spark a change in direction in one or two deals with Eddie Howe, head of recruitment Steve Nickson and his assistant Andy Howe soon to have the final say in transfers. But Newcastle made it clear this week that Mitchell would work until the end of the month.
This feels like a different scenario to the one that resulted in Dan Ashworth leaving on gardening leave in 2024 amid Manchester United rumours.
Sources say that Mitchell has a good working relationship with the owners and the exit is amicable.
Even after it was announced that Mitchell would leave back in May, just a few days after the season ended, the former Monaco man has stayed in his post.
However, both Mitchell and Nickson have both been spotted working together since at a scouting mission for England’s 3-1 friendly defeat against Senegal recently.
Mitchell has also played a part in early talks in negotiations for Joao Pedro and Anthony Elanga but Newcastle are yet to get a deal over the line.
Mitchell is also believed to have spoken to the representatives of Jonathan David earlier in the year, but talks on the deal cooled as the Canadian striker was inundated with lucrative offers.
Celtic price tag on exciting winger
The Magpies have taken a long hard look at Celtic star throughout the winter months with scouts making the journey to Scottish Premiership games last season to see Nicolas Kuhn.
The Germany-born winger is left-footed but likes to play on the right-hand side and grabbed an impressive 21 goals and 15 assists last season in Scotland.
With his future looking uncertain Celtic have slapped a £15million price tag on the star this summer and there is already interest from RB Leipzig.
As Newcastle assess other options on their shortlist, after being quoted a big price for Anthony Elanga, Kuhn could yet be an option for United. Anybody questioning whether Kuhn can do it on the big Premier League stage may note that he scored three goals and made on assist in the Champions League last season too.
Friendly date added to the schedule
With trips to Celtic, Singapore and South Korea all arranged this summer, Newcastle’s home programme is also now set in stone. Newcastle will face Atletico Madrid in a friendly at St James’ Park as their pre-season curtain closer on August 9.
However, with Eddie Howe feeling the need for one more game to get minutes in the legs, the head coach was pleased to get an acceptance from Espanyol this week. The game takes place on August 8 with a 7.45pm kick off with tickets on sale from June 24.
