Dele Alli Transfer Guru In Demand
Reuters / Peter Cziborra
Manchester United are eager to land talent-spotter Paul Mitchell after he resigned from his post at Tottenham, according to reports in Manchester Evening News.
The 35-year-old has become one of the most sought after men in World Football after completing a number of major deals during his stints with Tottenham and Southampton.
Mitchell joined Southampton as head of recruitment in 2012, and was credited with finding Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic, and Sadio Mane. After helping the Saints make huge profit on the trio, he then joined Tottenham in 2014, and discovered Dele Alli in a deal that has been considered his most important one to date.
Mitchell was familiar with Alli during his time at MK Dons, and plucked the young Englishman away from his old club for a very modest fee.
After joining the North London club, Alli has proved himself incredibly well, and is now one of the coveted midfielders in the world. He has won two back-to-back PFA Players’ young player of the year awards, and moreover, the Englishman is expected to command a world record transfer fee if he leaves Tottenham.
But one of Europe’s best talent spotters resigned from Tottenham’s head of recruitment last August, apparently due to differences with club’s hierarchy regarding the transfer policy.
Now, Mitchell is on gardening leave as he decides on his next move, and Manchester United are one of the several interested parties.
The report goes on to say that Ed Woodward has been under pressure to appoint a director of football since taking over the overall transfer activity in 2013. He has struggled to find a consistent transfer strategy, however, with high profile signings like Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Memphis Depay and Bastian Schweinsteiger proving expensive flops.
To ease the burden of Woodward, United are planning to bring Mitchell in, but will face a strong battle for the talent spotter from local rivals Manchester City, Paris St Germain, as well as Scottish clubs Celtic and Rangers, who are also interested in his services.
Written by Pragadeesh Shanmugam 