Pochettino Speaks About Mitchell Leaving Tottenham

News that Head of Recruitment Paul Mitchell was resigning from Tottenham disrupted the entire club, not least Mauricio Pochettino.

The pair had previously worked together at Southampton, identifying targets and bringing several in to great success. Since arriving at Tottenham in November of 2014, Mitchell has had a hand in the acquisition of Toby Alderweireld, Kevin Wimmer and Dele Alli among others.

Mitchell’s departure from the club comes amidst reports that his relationship with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has deteriorated beyond repair. According to a report in the Evening Standard published on Wednesday, the final straw appears to be Tottenham’s failure to secure Michy Batshuayi before the Belgian striker joined Chelsea in a £33 million deal.

According to the Guardian, Pochettino claims to have attempted a personal intervention to prevent his colleague from leaving to no avail.

“When you take a choice and there are personal things that happened, there’s nothing to do – only respect his decision,” Pochettino remarked.

“We carry on working. He’s with us, he’s in the office. Last night, we had a dinner with the squad and he was with us. Nothing has changed for the moment. This is the most important thing – that we work in the same way we were before it happened.”

Mitchell’s resignation won’t take effect until after the current summer transfer window ends at the earliest. With Pochettino claiming that there are still one or two transfers left to complete before September, Mitchell will presumably be kept busy.

The prospect of one or two more signings serves to soften the blow of Mitchell’s departure somewhat, but Pochettino declined to comment on the status of Georges-Kévin Nkoudou’s move from Olympique de Marseille.

Levy chimed in with his own remarks about Mitchell and also emphasized that Tottenham’s efforts on the transfer market remain undeterred.

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“Mitch has been with us for two years and created a well-staffed department and run our recruitment processes for the past two years,” the club chairman told the club’s website.

“We understand and respect his wish to consider new avenues. The priority right now is the final few weeks of the transfer window.”

After an off-season that has been largely free of the usual drama and speculation about the future of the club’s best players, Tottenham are reeling somewhat from the sudden loss of Mitchell. While his critics might point out that he was responsible in part for as many relative duds as he was success stories, Mitchell was a crucial part of Tottenham’s recruitment machine for almost two years.

Perhaps more significant than the loss of Mitchell himself is the damage this does to Levy’s already ragged reputation. The chairman is known for being aggressively persnickety when it comes to negotiating transfers, sometimes holding them up for long enough for the selling club to pull out altogether. The recent drama surrounding the acquisition of Nkoudou are just the latest example of such behavior.

Prior to Mitchell’s resignation, it wasn’t as clear that Levy’s tactics were as distressing to those inside the club as they were to those outside it. If indeed Tottenham are looking to replace Mitchell in the near future, they might struggle to overcome the stigma of having to work closely with Levy himself.

Regardless of what happened to eventually drive Mitchell away, he remains committed with the club until fresh opportunities come along.

Next: What Can Tottenham Expect from Everton?

“I’ve greatly enjoyed my time at Tottenham and it’ll continue to be my sole focus until such time as I move on to new challenges,” Mitchell said.

Leicester City are rumored to be leading the pack for Mitchell’s signature after he leaves Tottenham. The reigning Premier League champions lost their own head of recruitment Steve Walsh to Everton this summer and are anxiously looking for his replacement.

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