Interview 12 March 2021, 11:24

Paul Mitchell: "Give young players the opportunity to improve"

Before the crucial match this weekend against Lille, the current leader of Ligue 1, AS Monaco's Sporting Director spoke about the club's strategy, which aims to develop young talent, while quickly getting back to playing in Europe.

He arrived at the beginning of the summer to lead in the rebuilding of the sporting strategy of AS Monaco. With his arrival and that of Niko Kovac, the Principality club has thus laid the foundations for a new era, with a strong desire to develop the academy’s young talents. Before facing the leader of Ligue 1 this weekend, Paul Mitchell took the time to outline the club’s goals, while detailing what has been put in place so far.

A desire to get back to European football and develop young players

“Niko knows that I am never satisfied (laughs). But I am very happy. After Christmas, the team did very well in coming back. Niko found a good balance in developing and improving our youngsters, whether it be the players trained at the Academy, or those that we have recruited… Their integration with the experienced players of the squad has been very good,” averred AS Monaco’s Sporting Director.

With his experiences in England (Southampton, Tottenham) and within the Red Bull group, Mitchell aims to bring the club back to a European level, thanks to this perfect mix between talented young players and experience. “At the start of the season, we said we had certain objectives. We want to bring the club back to playing in Europe, but also to continue to allow this young team to grow,” says Paul Mitchell. “The core, the heart of our project, will be the young players. Youngsters from our academy like Chrislain Matsima, Eliot Matazo, Enzo Millot, who are making the leap from our academy to the first team.”

𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙪𝙣𝙨 ✨ pic.twitter.com/t2MUCqiAvH

— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) February 11, 2021

Progress in each department

But the Sporting Director of the Rouge et Blanc does not want to stop there — these high goals obviously demand a high level of exigence: “For the end of the season, I want us to continue to grow, and to work hard every day. But what is even more important for me is is also to off the field continue to develop our high standards in every department: psychology, sports science, nutrition, medicine, the way we travel, how we recover… We have to push every detail to its maximum to be the best we can be.”

It’s his stated ambition, then, for the club to the reach its heights vis-a-vis its DNA: the training of young players, who can thrive alongside by highly experienced high-level players. Watch the full interview with Paul Mitchell below.