Newcastle United may still have hope of keeping highly rated Head of Youth recruitment Paul Midgley amid interest from Manchester United.
The Red Devils have already poached one leading executive from Newcastle United, when Dan Ashworth moved to Old Trafford in 2024.
Ashworth’s move, however, did not work out and he lasted less than 200 days in the job before leaving the Manchester club.
Knowing what you know now, would you have sold Alexander Isak in 2024 instead of Elliot Anderson? 🤔
In this scenario, we still win the Carabao Cup by the way 😂
Newcastle, meanwhile, appointed Man United’s U18s boss Adam Lawrence in September and gave him the task of coaching their U21 side.
The movement between the two clubs could be set to continue, although all hope is not yet lost for Newcastle.
Paul Midgley hasn’t decided to leave Newcastle United for Manchester United yet
That’s because, according to The Daily Mail, sources close to Newcastle believe Midgley is still to decide on his future.
The report initially says that the Red Devils are set to appoint him in a similar role, having selected him out of ten candidates for the job.
However, it also suggests that Newcastle may be ready to put up a fight to keep him at the club.
Hot take: I’m starting to think Newcastle United should sell Kieran Trippier in January – prove me wrong
Would be painful but need to cash in while we can! 👀
Who is Paul Midgley and what players has he signed at Newcastle United?
Midgley joined Newcastle in 2022 and has helped the club sign some exciting youth prospects.
Indeed, Midgley helped Newcastle beat Wolves and Brighton to the signing of Kyle Fitzgerald from Galway United earlier this year.
The likes of Alfie Harrison, Leo Shahar, Baran Yıldız and Isaac Moran have all been signed under his watch at Newcastle.
He is currently Newcastle’s head of youth recruitment and has been in that role since December 2022.
Previously, he worked as Manchester City’s Northern UK Youth Scouting Manager for seven months.
Prior to that, he was Head of National Academy Recruitment at Leeds between 2020 and 2022.
Midgley worked as Sunderland’s Lead Recruitment Manager between 2017 and 2019, which was his first role at a major club.
Back in 2022, former Martin Waldron, who was head of academy recruitment at Everton, told The Chronicle about Midgley’s talents.
He said: “Paul is bright and aggressive. In recruitment, if you do well, normally, you’re aggressive and you’ve got your players – and he is. He’s good, thorough and did a good job at Leeds. You only have to look at all the young players that came into Leeds and he was involved with most of them.”
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