Newcastle name Forest’s Wilson as sporting director

Newcastle United have appointed Nottingham Forest’s chief football officer Ross Wilson as sporting director.

Wilson replaces Paul Mitchell, who lasted less than 12 months with the Magpies having taken over from Dan Ashworth.

Under Wilson, Forest broke their transfer record several times, with Omari Hutchinson’s £37.5m move from Ipswich this summer their biggest outlay.

Wilson was previously sporting director at Rangers and director of football operations at Southampton.

He said: “Newcastle is such a special club, and I fully understand the passion, ambition and expectations of our incredible supporters.

Magpies boss Howe was just a couple of days into an end-of-season break when the Newcastle head coach’s phone “exploded” last summer.

Sporting director Paul Mitchell had just announced he was departing.

While there were initial tensions between the pair, Howe was the first to recognise that such a figure “protects the manager from a lot of things”.

That is why the arrival of Ross Wilson is so significant for Newcastle.

Rather than rushing into the appointment – despite the need for a sporting director during a draining transfer window – Newcastle have been keen to recruit the right person.

In Wilson, who already has a good relationship with Howe, they feel they have that man.

It will fall to Wilson to help plot the medium to long-term strategy of the club.

Wilson helped shape Nottingham Forest’s rise, with his influence in just over two years at the City Ground helping turn them from relegation candidates to European contenders.

Brennan Johnson was sold to Tottenham for over £45m in 2023 but replaced with £15m Anthony Elanga and £3m Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Nikola Milenkovic was bought for under £12m from Fiorentina in 2024, forming an exceptional partnership in defence with Murillo and being named Forest’s Player of the Season.

That shrewd business helped Forest to Europe for the first time in 30 years after last season’s seventh-placed finish.

It says a lot about his standing and the respect he has that owner Evangelos Marinakis wanted him to stay at the City Ground to oversee the end of the transfer window, until the time was right for him to leave.

A deal was agreed a while ago after Wilson beat Jason Ayto to the post – with former Arsenal deputy sporting director Ayto eventually moving to Brighton.

Newcastle owner PIF has watched Wilson for a long time and expressed an interest in him when he was Rangers’ sporting director.