The Athletic reports that Newcastle are about to appoint Nottingham Forest’s director of football Ross Wilson as their new sporting director.
TA reported in July that Wilson, who has a close relationship with Newcastle coach Eddie Howe, was the preferred candidate for the position. The club also interviewed former Arsenal interim sporting director Jason Aitor. Compensation is not expected to be an obstacle, and if negotiations go well, the 41-year-old Wilson will take over as early as next week.
This position has been vacant since Paul Mitchell officially resigned on June 30. He succeeded Dan Ashworth for less than a year. Eddie Howe was involved in the selection process with the club's majority shareholder, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, and co-owner James Reuben.
The Public Investment Fund has been paying attention to Wilson several years ago, and expressed interest during his tenure as Rangers sporting director from 2019 to 2023, when Wilson helped the club win its first league trophy in ten years and reach the Europa League final.
When Wilson was in charge of the Forest Club, the team returned to the European competition after 30 years with a seventh-place finish last season. He started his career with Fakik and later played for Watford, Huddersfield, Southampton and Rangers. As a sports director who is good at building a strong club culture and building a supportive coaching system, his professional qualities are considered to be highly consistent with Eddie Howe, who is fully involved in recruitment and football affairs.
Since Mitchell left, director of recruitment Steve Nickerson and assistant director of recruitment Andy Howe have been temporarily responsible for transfer supervision. Newcastle's transfer window this summer has always revolved around Isaac's willingness to move to Liverpool, despite missing out on a number of signing targets, including Ekitic, who eventually settled at Anfield.
However, the club still successfully signed players such as Ilanga, Ramsdale, Jiafu, Jacob Ramsey, Walter Mader and Visa.
Wilson's expected arrival will be accompanied by a series of changes in Newcastle's management. Darren Eales resigned as CEO in September and was replaced by former Real Madrid executive David Hopkinson. In July, the club appointed Atalanta's director of football intelligence Sudarshan Gopaladesikhan as its new technical director, who will report to Wilson.
Mini-game recommendations:Merge Card 2048