Paul Mitchell's first Newcastle United arrival imminent with former AS Monaco man set to join

Mitchell was appointed as Dan Ashworth’s replacement as sporting director at St James’ Park earlier this month and is set to be joined by his former Monaco performance director James Bunce.

According to Mail Online, Bunce is set to arrive at St James’ Park in a director of performance role.

Shortly after Mitchell’s arrival as AS Monaco sporting director in June 2020, Bunce joined the club as performance director. Bunce’s role entailed focusing on injury prevention and risk reduction, monitoring physical preparation, performance, medical, nutritional and psychological aspects.

He described that his role is to ‘protect the coach’ by ensuring all performance elements are reaching their full potential. After Mitchell’s departure from Monaco in 2023, Bunce quickly followed.

The imminent arrival of Bunce continues the hierarchy shift behind the scenes at Newcastle following the news of co-owner Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi stepping away from the club. Their 5.7% stake in the club will be sold to majority owners the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, whose stake will increase to 85.7%.

RB Sports & Media hold the remaining 14.3% share of the club’s ownership.

This week saw Eddie Howe and a select group of players return to Darsley Park for pre-season tests and training. The Magpies will be looking to improve on last season’s seventh-placed finish in the Premier League which saw them miss out on Europe due to Manchester United winning the FA Cup.