CHELSEA are reportedly in “advanced talks” to appoint Red Bull Salzburg’s Christoph Freund as their new sporting director.
The Blues face the Austrian club tonight in the Champions League and now extra spice has been added to the clash ahead of kick off.
Freund, 45, has held his current position since 2015 and he has earned a fine reputation for unearthing talent in that time.
He brought Erling Haaland to the club three years ago from Molde and now Chelsea owner Todd Boehly wants to bring his talents to Stamford Bridge.
ESPN’S Ben Jacobs claims: “My understanding on Chelsea's new sporting director is talks with Salzburg's sporting director Christoph Freund are already pretty advanced.
“Todd Boehly is a big fan of the Red Bull model. He's currently ahead of Monaco's Paul Mitchell, who really wants the job, too.
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“Luis Campos is an option, and is technically freelance, but protection clauses in his PSG contract make a move tough unless he buys out the remainder of his Parc des Princes contract.
“I am told at this stage Freund is very much leading the race, which adds a little spice to Wednesday's #UCL game.
“Graham Potter's input is still key and Chelsea could also hire a technical director, too.”
One of Austrian Freund’s tasks would also be to oversee a potential network of clubs similar to the Red Bull model for the Chelsea brand.
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Speaking at the SALT Conference in New York, Boehly said: “We’ve talked about having a multi-club model.
“I think there’s different countries where there’s advantages to having a club. Red Bull have Salzburg and Leipzig in the Champions League.
“I want to continue building out the footprint. I think there’s different countries where there’s advantages to having a club.
“We know people and human capital. We understand game plans and strategies. We’re not expecting to be the football experts to find the best talent, we are going to put those people in place.
“The challenge that Chelsea has, when you have 18, 19, 20-year-old superstars, you can loan them out to clubs, but you put their development in someone else’s hands.
“Our goal is to make sure we can show pathways for our young superstars to get onto the Chelsea pitch while getting them real game time. The way to do that is through another club in a really competitive league in Europe.”
Chelsea are also believed to be considering a move for ex-Liverpool director Michael Edwards.
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