AS Monaco sporting director Paul Mitchell has been tipped to succeed the outgoing Julian Ward once he leaves Liverpool at the end of the season.
Ward is less than a year into the role after replacing Michael Edwards in May 2022 and has since sanctioned deals for Sadio Mane to join Bayern Munich and Darwin Nunez to move to Merseyside for a potential club-record deal. He also managed to seal a record-breaking contract for Mohamed Salah to commit his future to Liverpool for another three years.
The Liverpool John Moores University alumnus' resignation came as a surprise to Jurgen Klopp, who was notified of the decision after the Reds' 3-1 victory over Southampton in November and later admitted Ward's exit was indeed a "surprise".
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“It was a surprise when Julian told me," Klopp told reporters last month. "But we work completely normal together until the day that he leaves. Julian is 100% committed and everything is fine.
“We never had a problem and will not have a problem, so it’s all fine.
“He told me after the Southampton game and it was a surprise at that moment. That is his decision and that’s okay.
“It will have no impact for this period (until Ward’s departure), not at all.”
It is speculated that Mitchell, who was pursued by Chelsea prior to their appointment of Christopher Vivell, was in attendance for the victory over the Saints two months ago as the Englishman continues to be linked with the soon-to-be-vacant role at Anfield.
After a professional career in the English Football League with Wigan Athletic, Swindon Town and MK Dons, Mitchell returned to the latter when the Dons created a recruitment branch within the club in 2010. After spending less than two years with MK, the former defender moved to then Championship side Southampton, who were promoted to the Premier League in 2012.
After Nigel Adkins' departure and the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, Mitchell oversaw the signings of players such as Nathanial Clyne and Steven Davis. During the Argentine's time at the club, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Luke Shaw and Jay Rodriguez all earned their first England call-ups as the Saints forged a reputation as one of Europe's best recruiting clubs with an outstanding development model.
Mitchell would reunite with Pochettino in late 2014 just months after the Argentine took over the reins at Tottenham. While in North London he continued to excel in recruitment as he assisted the signings of Dele Alli, Son Heung-min, Kieran Trippier and Toby Alderweireld - three players who made over 600 combined Premier League appearances for the club.
After vast success in the Premier League, Mitchell served his notice period in North London and later moved to Bundesliga in 2018 to become head of recruitment and development at RB Leipzig. While working in Germany, he played an influential role in bringing Emile Smith Rowe, Matheus Cunha and Nordi Mukiele to the club.
Despite being touted with a possible promotion to the role of director of Red Bull's football group, Mitchell instead joined Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco in the summer of 2020 - just three years after they had won the French top flight.
Entering a time of financial uncertainty due to the Covid-19 lockdowns across the world, he was tasked with bringing stability to a wretched Monaco side that had waved goodbye to star players such as Fabinho, Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Falcao, Benjamin Mendy, Thomas Lemar and Tiemoue Bakayoko since their 2017 triumph.
Speaking to The Athletic in 2022, Mitchell recalled how the off-field projects at the Ligue 1 outfit had also been left by the wayside.
“When I arrived, none of this training centre was yet in place," he said. "Really, we should have taken imagery on the first day. I asked the head of player care to gather the players and staff for a meeting on the one pitch we had. We were working in cabins designed to be built for two years but they had been here since 2014, so I had a very natural shower coming in from one corner of my office.
“I remember presenting on the pitch and thinking ‘wow we have one training pitch and 77 players registered’. It was like someone had given out a flyer for people to come and train at Monaco.
“There were initial short-term problems; how do we stagger training and house players during COVID when you only have one pitch, for example? So, we were in the deep end, trying to make an assessment and build a squad in the image of how we believe it should be played, while also not missing the potential of an inherited player.”
But despite initial hindrances, Mitchell has become a fine success in the sovereign state and recently staged huge deals for Aurelien Tchouameni and Benoit Badiashile to join Real Madrid and Chelsea respectively for a combined fee of over £100m.
Recently linked with a move back to the Premier League in the form of Chelsea and Manchester United, the 41-year-old ruled himself out of leaving Monaco earlier this season as rumours of an approach from the Stamford Bridge outfit intensified.
“That’s news to me,” said Mitchell in September. “Honestly, working at AS Monaco is a unique opportunity. I am happy. It is always good to be linked to clubs of this calibre. It’s a compliment to everyone working here.”
“We still have work to do here and that’s what I’m focusing on every day. I have always said that as long as Dmitry Rybolovlev’s confidence and conditions are the same as when I signed two years ago, I will remain focused on the mission he has set. If that did change for whatever reason, that would change things.”
He added: “In football, you never say never, but as I said, I am 100% focused on our ambition of having a great season and continuing to develop our players.”
Ward and Edwards have both worked with Mitchell in recent years, with the first of those encounters coming in the spring of 2022 when Liverpool contacted Monaco about the availability of Tchouameni. Although the Reds were willing to pay the desired asking price, the midfielder would end up snubbing the deal in favour of a move to the Spanish capital.
Assistant sporting director at the time of trying to strike a deal for the French midfielder, Ward would later negotiate a deal with Mitchell and his team when Liverpool agreed to sell Takumi Minamino to the Ligue 1 club in July.
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