Newcastle appoint 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.

"I've been in regular contact with [manager] Eddie Howe and the trust, cohesion and alignment we're building already feels strong, and we believe that being united as a team will be so important as we continue to move the club forward together."

'Wilson to plan for the long term'

Eddie 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 that 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 Ross 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.

And, after a period of boardroom upheaval, Newcastle will hope the Scot will stick around long enough to see that vision through.