Man Utd and Chelsea-linked transfer guru Paul Mitchell open to return to England

Monaco sporting director Paul Mitchell admits he will return to the Premier League as his stock continues to rise in France.

The 40-year-old transfer guru, who previously honed his skills at Southampton and Tottenham, is now helping shape things in the principality as the Ligue 1 outfit reap the rewards of his shrewd recruitment - which has attracted the attention of new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly.

Mitchell grew up near Manchester, which has also led to consistent links of a move to Old Trafford. For now though the Monaco chief is content at the club's new high performance centre, but he concedes a return to England is eventually inevitable.

He told The Athletic : "If there is speculation with the size of organisations that you mention, it can only be seen as a positive for myself and for Monaco. It shows we are doing a good job and disturbing the market in a good way. You can never say never. I am from England and one day - I am still relatively a young man - I will go back to the Premier League and to friends and family back there as well.

"I am still enjoying my work, and while agreements are still in place with the majority shareholder here and the processes of working are still in place, I suspect I am still going to be here. I see it as a great reflection not only of me but the people working here that brands like that are mentioned in the same sentence as myself."

Mitchell was appointed at Monaco shortly after their Ligue 1 winning side of 2017 had been dismantled. The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva and Fabinho all left in a short space of time. Investments have since been made and the French outfit finished their campaign as the form side in Europe - winning nine of their last ten.

Chelsea have seen their transfer guru Marina Granovskaia leave after the change of ownership with the Blues in need of several new faces. United meanwhile have struggled in the market for the best part of a decade and will need to add the right players if they are to be competitive once more.

Mitchell himself believes his role is to create a high performance environment, not "getting carried away by the ego of player signings" - something United particularly have been guilty of as they chase success.

Quizzed on what he looks for in a player Mitchell said: "Working with Mauricio (Pochettino) shaped certain non-negotiables but as my journey continued, these have been sculpted as well as moulded. I like to analyse what the future game looks like and evolve our style and recruitment to adapt to that, so we are buying for then as well as now. I like my teams to be a reflection of me; I'd like to say hard working, a level of humility, controlled aggression and the potential to add physicality."