Newcastle United appear to have found the man to take over from Dan Ashworth.

Per Chronicle Live, the Magpies have targeted sporting director Paul Mitchell to take the hot seat.

Mitchell is one of the leading candidates for the post, which Ashworth will vacate when his move to Manchester United is finalized.

The latter is currently on gardening leave, as Newcastle want substantial compensation from the Red Devils.

Speaking about his successes last year, Mitchell stated: "No, it's not to sell players. It's to get everything moving in a normal process.

"That's speaking to players, looking at targets, looking at opportunities, and looking at the market as well."

Going on about his work at Monaco, he added: "We build squads over a period of time and sometimes people look at recruitment as being very reactive and emotional. But it has to be more premeditated than that.

“We spent €350 million over the two years previous to me coming in and it didn't go well."