Paul Mitchell favourite to become Manchester United's sporting director

The Red Devils have not been spot-on during their recruitment of quality players

Paul Mitchell, a former sports secretary at AS Monaco and the charge of recruiting at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur, is reportedly being considered for Manchester United's sporting director role, reported to The Athletic.

Since Mauricio Pochettino was expected to take over, Mitchell has frequently been linked to United, and the 42-year-old has previously laid out everything the Reds must to return to the very summit.

It is often difficult to respond when you're not in the internal and always knowing the context, he said in a July 2022 interview with Sky Sports.

I frequently use that phrase because I believe that context is crucial in determining Manchester United's current condition, but I believe they must eventually define exactly what Manchester United must be in today's sport.

"We are a long time from the Sir Alex Ferguson era. Erik ten Hag is a top coach from Ajax but they need a top blueprint not only for now but for the next five years and work towards that, and sometimes on that journey there are hard moments when you don't get the right results, even though you're doing the right things.

"You have to know that, over that period, the consistency of the decision-making will yield a good end result. I think we've seen with both Manchester City and Liverpool when you adopt that long-term strategy you can get real consistency and sustainable success.

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani pulled from his attempt to purchase the Red Devils when his final proposal, for 100% management, amounted to £5 billion and was not approved. Ratcliffe is in a position to take charge of the club's athletic affairs and is close to a deal with the Glazer family.

In addition to perhaps appointing Mitchell as sporting director, Ratcliffe reportedly wants to increase Old Trafford's capacity to 90,000 in the event that his bid to purchase a fourth of Manchester United's shares is accepted.