Ranking Paul Mitchell's top 8 signings as sporting director | OneFootball

As Manchester United continue to work towards returning to the peak of football, they've identified Paul Mitchell as a possible target to take over the recruitment process at Old Trafford. It's no secret that the Red Devils have had a nightmare in the transfer window over the last decade, spending big money on players who haven't come close to living up to the hype.

To combat that, they're reportedly interested in hiring Mitchell who has a very successful track record working with clubs like RB Leipzig, Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton over the years. He has been responsible for some of the most successful transfers in those clubs' histories and as we gear towards a potential move to Old Trafford, we thought we'd bring to light some of his best work. Without further ado then, here are the eight best signings that Mitchell has made over the years, ranked from worst to best.

8 Steven Davis - Southampton

While he isn't quite the world-class player that some of the other names on this list went on to be, the legacy that Steven Davis built at Southampton over the course of a seven-year run earns him a spot as one of Mitchell's best-ever signings. The midfielder joined the Saints from Rangers in 2012 and remained with the club until 2019 when he returned to the Scottish team.

In that period, though, Davis played 226 times and scored 14 goals. He became a key figure for Southampton as they established themselves as a solid Premier League team. He was just the sort of player they needed when they returned to the top flight and while he isn't the flashiest player that the club purchased over the last decade, he was easily one of the most effective and reliable.

7 Kieran Trippier - Tottenham Hotspur

After several incredible years at Burnley, Kieran Trippier joined Tottenham in 2015 and was one of the first signings that Mitchell made at the club following his appointment at the end of 2014. The right-back had a solid run with Spurs but was never quite the superstar that they might have been hoping for.

He was let go in 2019, after playing 114 times, when he joined Atletico Madrid and it's what he's done since leaving Tottenham that's been impressive. First, he shone in Spain with the La Liga side, before earning a move to Newcastle United following their big-money takeover, and he's since become a huge figure for the Magpies.

Their ascendance to the Champions League after battling relegation not too long ago is pretty incredible and Trippier has been a large reason for their success. His influence at right-back has been unmatched, and he has evolved into a capable leader for the club. He might very well go down as the best signing for Newcastle in the Eddie Howe era, but he's not quite the best signing that Mitchell has ever made.

6 Dele Alli - Tottenham Hotspur

At one time, the signing of Dele Alli looked like it could have been the very best one that Mitchell would ever make. Picking up the young Englishman from MK Dons in February 2015, he was one of the very first bits of business that the scout did at Spurs and what a deal it was. Bought for just £1m when he was 18 years old and for a while he looked like he was on his way to becoming a true superstar.

There were several years when he thrived at Spurs and, over the course of seven seasons, he played 269 times and scored 67 goals. Things went sour, though, and in his last couple of years, his form fell off a cliff. He looked like a shell of the star he'd previously been and Ali moved to Everton in January 2022.

Things haven't picked up at the Toffees either, though, and it feels safe to assume his time as an elite player in the Premier League has come to an end. It's a shame, and if he'd continued on the trajectory he was previously on, for the price spent, he'd have easily become the best signing in Mitchell's career as a talent scout.

It's a true testament to just how impressive Toby Alderweireld was during his prime that Mitchell signed him not just once, but twice within a year. Having initially brought the centre-back to Southampton on loan from Atletico Madrid in 2014, he spent a year with the Saints, but once Mitchell moved to Tottenham, he then brought him to the north London club on a permanent deal.

Whether it was his brief spell with Southampton or the six years he spent with Spurs, the Belgian was one of the best defenders in England and a very smart bit of business. Regularly linked with the likes of United at the time, it was clear that Mitchell had an eye for talent and many in the football industry agreed with him here. Alderweireld went on to spend six seasons with Tottenham, playing 236 times in the process and is one of the best defenders they've had in the Premier League era. Not a bad bit of business from Mitchell at all.

4 Christopher Nkunku - RB Leipzig

After coming through the ranks at Paris Saint-Germain, Christopher Nkunku caught the eye of Mitchell, and he brought the attacking midfielder to RB Leipzig in 2019. At first, the Frenchman looked like a solid, if not particularly spectacular player, but it was at Leipzig that he became one of the most exciting young footballers in the world.

Signed for around £11m, the deal aged like a fine wine, and in next to no time, Nkunku had become an incredible talent in the Bundesliga. After taking a couple of seasons to really bed in, his game went to a whole other stratosphere, and he scored 35 goals in the 2021-22 season, followed by another 23 strikers the year after.

Leipzig went on to sell Nkunku to Chelsea earlier this year for a fee reported to be around £52m, making the club a hefty profit in the process. If he'd have stayed a little longer, this might have been even higher up on our list, but it's still a very impressive signing and one that is one of Mitchell's best.

3 Nordi Mukiele - RB Leipzig

After coming through at Montpellier, Nordi Mukiele caught the eye of Mitchell, and he brought him to Leipzig in 2018, one year before Nkunku's arrival and mere months after his own. It quickly became apparent that the German club would benefit from his excellent work as Mukiele quickly became a star in the Bundesliga.

Alongside the likes Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate, he forged an incredible backline for Leipzig and caught the eye of numerous other top clubs along the way. In total, Mukiele spent four years with Leipzig and played close to 150 games for the club before he was snapped up by PSG in 2022. He hasn't had the most spectacular of starts to life in Ligue 1 with the side just yet, but that doesn't take away from the fact he was a very impressive bit of business for Mitchell.

2 Sadio Mané - Southampton

Right up until the end of his time at Southampton, Mitchell did a wonderful job with recruitment and left the Saints with a little gift as he made Sadio Mane was of his final signings before his departure. Bringing the forward in just months before he left the club, he saved his best bit of work at the Saints for the end and it's safe to say that Mane's move to St. Mary's was a resounding success.

Over the course of two years, Mane made one hell of a mark on the Premier League, breaking the record for the fastest-ever hat-trick, as well as helping form the best Southampton team of the 21st century. After 75 appearances and 25 goals, though, he found his way onto Jurgen Klopp's radar and in 2016, he moved to Liverpool.

That's where things truly took off and he had an excellent time at Anfield, winning just about everything there was to win with the Reds and alongside Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, he formed one of the best front threes that football has ever seen. These days he's playing in Saudi Arabia with Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, and his status in football has gone global, which makes Mitchell's decision to recruit him all those years ago even more impressive.

1 Son Heung-min - Tottenham Hotspur

There's no doubt about it. The best bit of business that Mitchell has done in his career so far, was bringing Son Heung-min to Tottenham in 2015. The South Korean was one of the first players he recruited at Spurs and what a signing it's gone on to be. After a slow start to life in England, the forward has been nothing short of sensational for over eight years now and is somehow still getting better.

He's been a key figure in some of the best Spurs' sides since the creation of the Premier League and, with Harry Kane, forged one of the best partnerships we've seen. Now that the Englishman has left the club, though, Son has taken his game to a whole new level and is playing some of his best football ever right now at 31 years old. So far, he's played 385 games, scored 153 goals and created 81 assists for Spurs and those numbers are still climbing.

He will undoubtedly go down as one of Tottenham's greatest-ever players and unless Mitchell pulls off something spectacular in the future, he'll also go down as his greatest-ever bit of business.