Former sporting director of Newcastle United Dan Ashworth and other former members of the Magpies’ recruitment team have been hurt and bemused by claims from new sporting director Paul Mitchell that the club’s transfer structure was not fit for purpose, according to the Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards.
Ashworth, former Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley, husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi and chief scout Steve Nickson were all involved in recruitment before Mitchell took over in the summer, and his criticism of their strategy and signings has not gone down well with them, with some of them expressing their frustration privately.
They believe the claim was an attempt on the part of the Toons chief to blame others for his own failure to sign a marquee player during the summer transfer window.
Ashworth and Mitchell know each other well, and the sporting director of Man United is particularly disappointed that a counterpart would resort to criticising his regime.
The former Southampton transfer guru claimed Newcastle overpaid for most of their players since their takeover in 2021 and only focused on a small player pool to discover talent.
Mitchell also expressed dissatisfaction with the club’s scouting and data analysis practices, and he is now looking to make necessary improvements going forward.
He is looking to strengthen the squad in January but is not on good terms with manager Eddie Howe, who was disappointed that Newcastle failed to make major recruitment in the summer.
The Toons missed out on two key targets Howe wanted – Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi and a right winger, only signing Lewis Hall permanently, landing William Osula and Odysseas Vlachodimos while Lloyd Kelly and John Ruddy joined for free.
Newcastle have started the new Premier League campaign well despite an underwhelming summer transfer window, with two wins and a draw to their name so far, and Howe will be desperate to lead them to a top-four finish.
