Manchester United hierarchy against ten Hag and Rangnick's recommendation to appoint 40-year-old sporting director: Reports

Manchester United's hierarchy are reportedly against Erik ten Hag and Ralf Rangnick's recommendation of appointing Paul Mitchell as the club's sporting director.

Florian Plettenberg reports that both Ten Hag, who is set to become United's next manager, and current interim boss Rangnick are pushing for the club to bring in Mitchell in as sporting director.

However, Plettenberg claims that United's hierarchy have reservations over the former Tottenham Hotspur Head of Recruitment.

Mitchell has been heralded for his work in bringing some top names to the Premier League during his time at Spurs and Southampton.

The 40-year-old is praised for luring the likes of Sadio Mane, Son Heung Min and Toby Aldeweireld to the English league.

He subsequently departed the Premier League for Bundesliga side RB Leipzig in 2018 where he has continued his work as head recruiter.

He signed the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Matheus Cunha and Nordi Mukiele during his time at Leipzig before heading to AS Monaco as sporting director.

The Englishman has worked with Rangnick in the past during the duo's time together at Leipzig.

Fabrizio Romano reports that the strong relationship Mitchell and Rangnick share is swaying the sporting director towards United but many other clubs are interested.

Why are the Manchester United having reservations?

Paul Mitchell comes with a glittering reputation for unearthing talent that can be developed into top stars.

He is regarded as one of the best recruiters and directors in world football, with his work at each club he's been at paying dividends.

However, United's board is restructuring and there seems to be a lack of awareness about what a sporting director can bring in in terms of recruitment at the club.

Over the past few years, recruitment been left to the discretion of former Manchester United CEO Ed Woodward.

According to MEN, the club's transfer operations were headed by technical chief scout Mick Court, who would hold regular meetings to build a transfer list.

Director of football negotiations Matt Judge would then be tasked with executing deals.

This was for the most part a failure as United's squad lacked the required signings to fit the squad that each manager was looking to build.

Rangnick commented on the club's need to have the right people pulling the strings in the transfer market.

Since then, two of Manchester United's most senior scouts, Jim Lawlor and Marcel Bout, have left the club.

Ten Hag himself made it clear he wanted to have a say in transfers should he be confirmed as Manchester United's next boss.

With Mitchell being endorsed by the Dutch coach, it is clear he is keen to work alongside the former Spurs director and with Rangnick as a consultant.