Sir Jim Ratcliffe could bring a new sporting director to Manchester United if his bid for a 25% stake of the club is accepted, a new report claims. 

Ratcliffe’s group are close to confirming that they have bought a quarter of the Premier League club, and want to take charge of the footballing side of operations.

And talkSPORT believe that one of the names in the frame to be a senior figure at the club is one with prior top-flight experience at Tottenham and Southampton. 

Mitchell has a long history in recruitment for sides including Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and RB Leipzig.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe could bring in a new sporting director if his Man United stake bid is accepted

Paul Mitchell, who previously worked at Southampton, Spurs and RB Leipzig, is a possibility 

While at Spurs, he was part of the team that helped to bring in Son Heung-min and Toby Alderweireld among others, while at RB Leipzig, he brought in current Chelsea striker Christopher Nkunku.  

Mitchell was most recently sporting director at Monaco, stepping down in the summer after three years in the role. 

TalkSPORT believe Mitchell eyed a return to the Premier League, despite being previously considered for a role at Nice, which is also owned by Ratcliffe’s INEOS Group. 

Manchester-born Mitchell was a player for Wigan Athletic and MK Dons among others, before joining the latter’s recruitment team after injuries curtailed his playing career at the age of 27. 

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In 2012, he joined Southampton as Head of Recruitment, where he was involved in signing players, including Sadio Mane, who joined in the summer of 2014.

At the Saints, he worked with Mauricio Pochettino, but when the manager moved to Spurs, Mitchell followed suit a few months later.

In North London, he had success signing players including Son, Alderweireld, Kieran Trippier and Dele Alli, who he had previously encountered at MK Dons.

Mitchell was most recently sporting director at Monaco, before stepping down in the summer 

The 42-year-old was credited with bringing the likes of Son Heung-min and Dele Alli to Spurs

After Tottenham, Mictchell moved to RB Leipzig in 2018, before joining Monaco as sporting director two years later. 

As far back as 2018, BBC Sport claimed that Mitchell was under consideration for a role at Man United. On United’s previous interest in him, Mitchell told The Sun: ‘Manchester United are recognised for being one of the biggest clubs in the world. 

‘So any link with a club of that size, history and status is very flattering and I am a Manchester boy.’

A board meeting on Thursday will decide whether Ratcliffe’s £1.4bn bid for a quarter of Man United is accepted.