Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal are all looking to offer RB Leipzig's head of recruitment Paul Mitchell a chance to join their club as a sporting director.
The 37-year-old worked closely with Mauricio Pochettino at both Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur, before leaving for the Bundesliga in February 2018.
.@ManUtd, @Arsenal and @ChelseaFC are locked in a three-way fight to tempt @RBLeipzig_EN’s top talent spotter Paul Mitchell to become their new sporting director.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 12, 2019
He is widely regarded as one of the finest talent scouts in the world, and Sky Sports News claim that United, Chelsea and Arsenal are all desperate to bring him into their recruitment hierarchy.
However, he has been offered a new contract which would keep him at RB Leipzig until the summer of 2025, and is thought that their offer would also see him become first-team manager in the near future.
The trio of Premier League clubs are all on the lookout for a new director to help improve their transfer strategies, but may have to look elsewhere if Mitchell opts to renew his deal with Leipzig.
During his time with Southampton, he unearthed the likes of Sadio Mane and Dusan Tadic, both of whom were huge successes with the Saints. After following Pochettino to Tottenham, Mitchell secured cut-price deals for many players, such as Toby Alderweireld and Dele Alli, and he has continued his impressive scouting in the Bundesliga.
Leipzig have recruited exciting youngsters like Nordi Mukiele, Tyler Adams and Matheus Cunha, all of whom would likely command much greater fees than Leipzig initially paid.
Incoming manager Julien Nagelsmann, who will take charge of the club in the summer, has made keeping Mitchell one of his top priorities but, alongside interest from the Premier League, both Schalke and Borussia Monchengladbach are keen to tempt Mitchell away from the Red Bull Arena.
Mitchell hails from the Denton suburb of Manchester, and it remains to be seen whether a return to the Premier League would be an appealing prospect for the former defender.
Source : 90min