Daniel Levy
Levy told the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust Mitchell's exit won't affect the way the club do business. Getty

KEY POINTS

  • Mitchell left the club in August amid claims of a troubled relationship with Daniel Levy.
  • Issue was raised when Tottenham board recently met with club's Supporters Trust.

Tottenham Hotspur are 'open-minded' over bringing in a direct replacement for their former head of recruitment Paul Mitchell.

Mitchell followed manager Mauricio Pochettino from Southampton to White Hart Lane in 2014 having garnered a reputation as one of the Premier League's sharp talent spotters. The 34-year-old enjoyed a productive relationship with the Tottenham boss – with Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld among the most successful deals of his tenure as both enjoyed instant success at White Hart Lane.

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Mitchell announced his shock resignation in August, with the Guardian claiming a difficult relationship with club chairman Daniel Levy as key to his decision to move on. More recently, he has been linked with a director of football role at Ligue 1 side Marseille.

Mitchell's departure and a possible replacement was one of the issues raised at last week's meeting between the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust and the club's board. Minutes taken from the meeting note that Levy explained: "Mitchell was one of a number of staff involved in recruitment and, when he left, they would be open minded as to whether they replaced like for like."

Levy also added Mitchell's departure would "not affect the structure of the transfer/recruitment policy in place."

Mitchell had worked alongside Pochettino and the club's head of coaching and player development John McDermott, who routinely recommends academy players he believes to be ready to train with the first-team. The healthy relationship has allowed the flow of youngsters making the step up to continue this season, with 18-year-old centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers the latest academy starlet to make his debut.

It follows a summer where Tottenham allowed three former academy players to leave, with Ryan Mason and Alex Pritchard joining Hull City and Norwich City respectively on permanent deals, with Nabil Bentaleb having joined Schalke on loan.

Levy has assured fans however home-grown academy players would continue to be given chances in the first-team to offset those summer departures, stressing the balance between home-grown and experienced players was "about right" at the moment.

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