Paolo Maldini and Hugo Viana are among the candidates identified as part of Newcastle United’s search for a sporting director to replace Manchester United-bound Dan Ashworth.
Although Paul Mitchell, who was head of recruitment at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur before moving to Monaco, is thought to be the front runner, i understands that executive search consultancy Odgers Berndtson – who are acting as an intermediary in the process for Newcastle – have cast the net wide for potential candidates as they carry out due diligence of the sporting director market.
Ideally Newcastle are keen to have someone in place before the summer transfer window, which will see the club balance the need to refresh Eddie Howe’s squad with the need to broker outgoings to give them some headroom under the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations (PSR).
Ashworth, meanwhile, remains on gardening leave while Newcastle and Manchester United negotiate the terms of his impending St James’ Park exit.
The appeal of Mitchell – who was also in the running for a role at Old Trafford – is obvious given his Premier League experience and the fact that, as a free agent, he would be required to serve a period of gardening leave himself. But the word in executive circles is that Odgers Berndtson have looked at a wide range of other candidates.
As well as Mitchell, they have also spoken to former Roma director of football Tiago Pinto, as well as having contact with Benfica’s Rui Pedro Braz, Sporting Lisbon director of football Viana and former AC Milan technical director Maldini among a list of potential candidates.
Both are highly rated, with Maldini having won huge praise in Italy for pulling together the young squad that won Serie A in 2023 and reached the last four of the Champions League. He has been out of work since June last year, when he left Milan admit reports of a disagreement over direction with the club’s owners.
Viana, a former Newcastle midfielder during his playing career, has been the Portuguese club’s sporting director since 2018 and is also highly rated.
Any new sporting director faces a big job at St James’ Park, where the ambition to compete with the top six remains undimmed despite a bruising season. Balancing that with being nimble in the transfer market, working within PSR constraints and aiding the work of the academy will be the remit for whoever gets the job.
They will also be working closely with Howe, who retains the faith of the hierarchy and could even be handed more influence in the transfer market himself after what is being viewed as a generally disappointing window last summer.
Newcastle are 10th in the Premier League ahead of the run-in and face West Ham on Saturday in a game that is crucial to their hopes of qualifying for Europe next season.
The team have been in Dubai during the international break on a warm weather training camp intended to re-energise the squad ahead of the run-in. Familiar injury worries have incurred on the feel-good factor in the camp though, with Sven Botman’s ACL injury ruling him out until next season and Lewis Miley suffering a back injury likely to end his breakthrough campaign.
