On August 9th, Spurs announced that Head of Recruitment Paul Mitchell would be leaving the club “at a future date to be mutually agreed.” Since then, there hasn’t been any official update on the situation or what the plan will be heading into the January transfer window.
But Mauricio Pochettino supplied a bit of an update as he gave a news conference ahead of Tottenham’s weekend match with Manchester United. Apparently the club are actively looking for a replacement for Mitchell.
ESPNFC has the relevant quotes from Poch.
"Paul Mitchell is still working for us, but it's a normal process to find another person who can cope with his job in the future. It is true here at Tottenham, we need to replace him. The club believes that, not only me."
It is news that Paul Mitchell is still working for the club, but ESPNFC also understands that he will fully leave his role before the new year. As of now, there are no reports as to who Mitchell’s replacement could be.
Pochettino does have more say in the player recruitment process under his new role of “manager” compared to when he was just “head coach”. But clearly the club doesn’t want Poch solely in charge.
Mitchell’s role at Spurs is known as Head of Recruitment, but it is a similar role that the Director of Football plays at many other clubs.
However, a new Head of Recruitment may not even be necessary until the summer. In the same news conference, the Spurs’ manager hinted that the club do not have plans to bring new players in during the January transfer window.
"In January it's always difficult to find the right profile to help you. Always when you bring players from outside always there is not too much time for that player to settle in your club and your philosophy, for many reasons," he said.
"It will be difficult to find the profile that can help us but the club is doing a very good job to extend contracts of key players. That is how we can show our real ambition and how the players show their commitment with us. That's a bigger statement for the club, to show our ambition for the future."
This really isn’t surprising. The results have been mixed, but Spurs (as per usual) did their spending in the summer. No one should be holding their breath for a big purchase this winter.
But Pochettino’s quotes do make it sound like more contract extensions are on the way. Jan Vertonghen and Harry Kane have recently signed new deals, and Hugo Lloris and Toby Alderweireld could very well be next.
That’s good news! And so is the fact that the club is looking to replace Mitchell. Let’s just hope that Tim Sherwood and Harry Redknapp aren’t anywhere on Levy’s shortlist for the job.