Football
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Tottenham appoint new head of recruitment and analysis

Tottenham have confirmed the appointment of former Southampton scout Paul Mitchell as head of recruitment and analysis.

Mitchell was credited with unearthing Southampton's key summer signings Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mane that have allowed new boss Ronald Koeman to push the south coast club to second in the Premier League table.

The former Wigan and MK Dons star left St Mary's earlier this month however, and has now completed his reunion with ex-Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham continue to be linked with January transfer window moves for Saints duo Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez, and will hope Mitchell's arrival can prise both men away from St Mary's.

"We are delighted to announce that Paul Mitchell has joined the club as head of recruitment and analysis,'' read a Tottenham statement.

"A former player with Wigan and MK Dons, Paul initially took up the role of community ambassador with the Dons when he retired from playing in 2009 at the age of 27.

"Following the appointment of Karl Robinson as manager in 2010, Paul was assigned to his back-room staff as head of recruitment, recognising his aptitude for identifying player talent.

"He joined Southampton in January 2012 to manager their scouting and recruitment department.''

Southampton manager Koeman has remained unfazed by Mitchell's exit, claiming the club will continue to be proud of rivals coveting both staff and players at St Mary's.

"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. 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.''

Mitchell's arrival at Tottenham will further complicate an already-politically charged structure, with director of football Franco Baldini and chairman Daniel Levy both prominent in transfer negotiations.

Koeman meanwhile has maintained that Saints will carry on regardless.

"He [Mitchell] was important in that (summer transfer strategy) because we had a good scouting list and had to change a lot of our team,'' said Koeman.

"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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