Everton are reportedly now in ‘pole position’ to land Steve Hitchen as their new Director of Football (DoF).
The Lowdown: Hitchen leaves Tottenham
Tottenham Hotspur announced the exit of Technical Performance Director Hitchen on Wednesday evening, and football.london journalist Alasdair Gold revealed that he sent a heartfelt email to staff at the North London club explaining why he left.
The move was apparently due in part to the presence of new Spurs transfer guru Fabio Paratici, whose ex-Juve fingerprints are all over their deadline day moves for Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.
With the Goodison Park faithful rapidly making changes of their own, as both Marcel Brands and Rafa Benitez have already left midway through this season, Hitchen is now being eyed for a role in Merseyside.
The Latest: Everton favourites
As per The Athletic journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke, Hitchen is now in ‘pole position’ to land the DoF job at the Toffees following his resignation from Spurs:
“Steve Hitchen in pole position for Everton DoF job after resigning from Spurs.
“- Signed Suarez for Liverpool in 2011
– Returned to Spurs 2017, close bond with Poch
– Convinced Poch to sign Lucas Moura. Got him Ndombele
– Tried to get Poch back in 2021.”
The Verdict: Shake-up needed
With the Blues lurking just outside of the relegation zone in the Premier League and the mood around the club at an all-time low before Benitez’s exit, a real shake-up is needed on the pitch and at boardroom level.
Described as a ‘shrewd operator’ by Pitt-Brooke, Hitchen does not seem to someone that would take anything lightly at EFC, and so could be the exact kind of character that they need to come in and shake things up from the outside.
Gold has claimed that he had little involvement in the Lilywhites’ last two transfer windows, with Paratici doing most of the work. Given the north London outfit’s failures to sign both Adama Traore and Luis Diaz in January, perhaps Hitchen is someone who should have been given more trust with regards to recruitment, something Everton in particular have been heavily criticised for in recent years.
In other news, find out which seven players will miss Brentford here!