Paul Mitchell admits interest in Premier League return amid Chelsea & Man Utd links
By Tom Gott
Monaco recruitment chief Paul Mitchell has admitted he would be interested in a return to the Premier League, with Chelsea and Manchester United both tipped to move for the Englishman.
Mitchell, who grew up near Manchester, has built a reputation as one of the best talent scouts around during his time with Southampton, Tottenham, RB Leipzig and Monaco, and links to Europe's elite sides are never far away.
Chelsea are rumoured to be interested in Mitchell as they look to rebuild a boardroom that has lost Marina Granovskaia, Bruce Buck and Petr Cech following Todd Boehly's takeover of the club, while United have long been touted as a possible landing spot for the 40-year-old as they look to restructure their recruitment department.
Speaking to The Athletic, Mitchell confessed he has seen the speculation and admitted he would not be against a return to the Premier League at some point in the future.
"If there is speculation with the size of organisations that you mention, it can only be seen as a positive for myself and for Monaco," he said when asked about the links to Chelsea and United. "It shows we are doing a good job and disturbing the market in a good way.
Listen now to 90min's Talking Transfers podcast, with Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey, Harry Symeou & Toby Cudworth. On the latest show they discuss Richarlison's move to Tottenham, where Lisandro Martinez could be heading and more. Available on all audio platforms and the 90min YouTube channel.
If you can't see the podcast embed, click here to download the episode in full!
"You can never say never. I am from England and one day - I am still relatively a young man - I will go back to the Premier League and to friends and family back there as well.
"But I am still enjoying my work, and while agreements are still in place with the majority shareholder here and the processes of working are still in place, I suspect I am still going to be here.
"But I see it as a great reflection not only of me but the people working here that brands like that are mentioned in the same sentence as myself."
Former Liverpool executive Michael Edwards is also expected to be of interest to Chelsea this summer, while the Blues are also pursuing a deal to hire former City Football Group chief Tom Glick.