CHELSEA have appointed Southampton's Joe Shields as their new director of recruitment.
The Blues have reshaped both their hierarchy and transfer strategy following Todd Boehly’s takeover.
Bruce Buck, Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech have all left Chelsea so far.
Now the West Londoners have brought in Shields from Southampton after his impressive work at Saints and Manchester City before them.
Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl let slip the news in his pre-West Ham press conference, saying: "He came in August and he left in October.
"It’s not a big loss for this club because the impact he had in the six weeks was not the biggest.
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"We are not in the situation where we fall into depression.”
The Blues’ new owner is believed to have been particularly impressed with the signing of Romeo Lavia, who moved to St Mary's from City last summer.
Lavia arrived with three other young talents Juan Larios, Sam Edozie and Gavin Bazunu.
Shields only joined Southampton as chief scout in July after nine years at the Etihad working in City’s scouting and recruitment department.
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The experienced scout has also previously worked at Crystal Palace and Fulham in similar roles.
But his departure angered Southampton, who were left furious with how Chelsea handled their approach.
The Stamford Bridge club are still searching for a new technical director.
The latest name linked is ex-RB Leipzig chief Christopher Vivell after he was sacked by the Bundesliga club.
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The Blues are also looking for a new sporting director and Norwich’s Stuart Webber is among their candidates.
Chelsea are back in action on Sunday as they take on Aston Villa in the Premier League.
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