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Ronald Koeman claims Southampton should take it as a compliment that Tottenham are not only trying to snatch the Saints' best players but also the club's back-room staff. Southampton's highly-rated head of recruitment Paul Mitchell -- credited for securing the likes of Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mane in the summer -- has left St Mary's and is expected to link up with former boss Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham. Spurs also retain a keen interest in Saints duo Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez, both of whom they pursued in the summer, and it is hoped Mitchell can help renovate Pochettino's struggling squad. "It is a compliment for us that Tottenham are not just trying to buy football players, they are also trying to buy our scouts," Koeman said. "That is a compliment for us because that means maybe we have a better structure than they have." Koeman continued: "For the last few years Southampton has had a good structure. "There is a strong academy, good young players, a technical director in Les Reed who has the club's long term interests at heart - that is the quality of the club. "It is a good structure and it is a pleasure to work in that." Tottenham's off-field structure is more politically charged with director of football Franco Baldini and chairman Daniel Levy both having a large input in the club's transfer policy. Levy will hope Mitchell can bring the same sort of talent-spotting expertise to White Hart Lane that has helped Southampton go 14 points clear of Spurs in the Barclays Premier League table. "He was important in that (summer transfer strategy) because we had a good scouting list and had to change a lot of our team," Koeman said. "We like to keep everybody and Mitch did a great job in the club but on the other hand, we understand his decision because it's football. "People are always changing clubs. Southampton does not depend on one person. "The final decision lies with the club, they agreed with Paul Mitchell he could leave the club. "We will bring in a good person to continue our philosophy and good luck to Paul at Tottenham."
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