Manchester United set to pile more misery on Newcastle United - former Leeds United man expected to join

Newcastle United head of youth recruitment Paul Midgley is set to leave the club to join Premier League rivals Manchester United.

Midgley joined Newcastle after a brief stint at Manchester City in 2022. The 38-year-old left his role as Leeds United’s head of national academy recruitment before spending six months as a regional scout.

Prior to a two-year spell at Leeds, Midgley spent two years in an academy recruitment role at Sunderland between 2017 and 2019.

Newcastle’s head of youth recruitment has overseen an influx of young talent in recent seasons. Trevan Sanusi is the only youth signing made during Midgley’s tenure that has gone on to make a competitive first-team appearance, while others have also impressed at academy level and caught the eye of Eddie Howe.

The 18-year-old featured for Newcastle in the FA Cup against Bromley in January 2024 having signed from Birmingham City’s academy in 2023. The Magpies also signed Leo Shahar from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sam Alabi from Oldham Athletic that same summer, both of whom were named on the bench for the first team at Manchester United on Boxing Day.

Manchester United beat Newcastle 1-0 with an understrength side, which included several youngsters in the squad. Now they are looking to pile more misery on their Premier League rivals.

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Manchester United make move for Newcastle United youth recruitment chief

According to The Daily Mail, Manchester United are expected to appoint Midgley as the club’s new head of youth recruitment.

Man United are looking to replace Luke Fedorenko, who is currently on gardening leave from the role as he prepares to take up a new position away from the club.

Midgley reportedly beat over 10 candidates to land the role, though Manchester United are expecting some resistance from Newcastle over a compensation package.

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Manchester United wary of past ‘errors’

This comes after The Magpies spent over four months in negotiations with Man United over releasing Dan Ashworth from his role as sporting director.

An initial approach was made by The Red Devils in February but it wasn’t until the end of June that the two clubs reached a multi-million-pound agreement over a compensation package for Ashworth. After that lengthy pursuit, Ashworth lasted less than six months in the role as sporting director at Manchester United before being sacked by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Ashworth’s dismissal cost Man United a total of £4.1million, as detailed in the club’s official accounts.

Minority owner Ratcliffe later described Ashworth’s appointment from Newcastle as ‘an error’. Newcastle appointed Paul Mitchell as Ashworth’s replacement but he lasted less than a year in the role before Ross Wilson was named as sporting director earlier this season.

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