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As two more technical director candidates slip through the buttery fingers of Arsenal, The Times have reported that former Tottenham Hotspur Head of Recruitment Paul Mitchell was being considered for the role.
What’s the word, then?
In their desperate search to make an appointment in the role, the Gunners were understood to be mainly looking at two options, former player and Ajax Director of Football Marc Overmars and Monchi (Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo).
The former has now signed a contract extension with the Dutch giants and the latter has made the move to become sporting director for Sevilla in La Liga.
If they are to bring someone in soon, Unai Emery’s side are rather short of options, although the internal appointment of Head of Youth Scouting Steve Morrow has also been discussed.
Mitchell is currently working in Germany with RB Leipzig, but rose to fame in England with a post-playing career more notable than his time as a player.
First, he helped Southampton climb the divisions to achieve Premier League status with the signings of players such as Sadio Mane and Toby Alderweireld, before moving to White Hart Lane where he would serve in the aforementioned role between November 2014 and March 2017, overseeing the signings of many great talents that have helped Spurs become a consistent top four team in the Premier League.
Arsenal, he’s your man
With most other rational options off the table for now, Arsenal’s man should undoubtedly be Mitchell, given his pedigree in the English top-flight.
For the Gunners’ fierce North London rivals, the 37-year-old spotted and brought in such talents as Dele Alli from MK Dons, Ben Davies from Swansea City, Eric Dier from Sporting Lisbon, Heung-Min Son from Bayer Leverkusen, Kieran Trippier from Burnley, Toby Alderweireld from Atletico Madrid and Victor Wanyama from Southampton, to name a few.
Imagine how much better Arsenal could have been in the last few years if they possessed players of this quality in great numbers in their squad.
And the award for most enthusiastic celebration of a goal scored in the last week goes to the fan in the video below…
A young creative midfielder such as Alli, as well as a solid centre-back and a defensive midfield powerhouse such as Alderweireld and Wanyama, perhaps would have been enough to push them over the line for their first title since 2004 in 2015/16.
This clear eye for spotting talent is what Mitchell would bring to the table at the Emirates Stadium and with the post-career Premier League experience that is maybe lacking in Overmars and Monchi, he could even be a better option than the original preferred targets.
While it’s unclear why they went off the idea of him in the first place, perhaps he rejected their initial interest, the Gunners hierarchy must now re-focus their attention on Mitchell and do everything in their power to persuade him to move back to the English capital.