Stephan Reiter responds to claims of Chelsea appointing Christoph Freund as their Sporting Director. (Photo by Andreas Schaad/Bongarts/Getty Images)
According to a tweet from Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are all set to reach an agreement with RB Salzburg’s Christoph Freund on personal terms to appoint him as the club’s new sporting director.
Freund has been one of Chelsea’s top targets to fill the vacant director of football role. Talks are now on with Salzburg to get this deal done sooner rather than later.
The 45-year-old has been working as a sporting director for the Austrian club since 2015. He was the one who unearthed star striker Erling Haaland from Molde, before signing him and then selling him to Borussia Dortmund at a considerable profit.
Not just the signing of Haaland, Freund has a tremendous track record of scouting young players from all over the world. He was an integral part of Salzburg spotting the likes of Sadio Mane, Naby Keita and Dayot Upamecano – all of whom are now playing for the biggest clubs in Europe.
The Austrian recently rejected a very good offer from Dutch giants Ajax. Now it seems as if he is closer than ever to joining Chelsea.
It was previously revealed that the Blues are searching for a sporting director who has a history of spotting talents with the help of data. Freund fits that bill perfectly. Also, this was the reason why Luis Campos of Paris Saint-Germain was never in the race.
The west London club are acting swiftly regarding this appointment as they know getting a sporting director before the World Cup will help him spot any talents during the showpiece event and make moves in January, or next summer.
It will also give time to Freund to discuss the playing system with manager Graham Potter and what profile of players it requires moving forward. It truly seems like a new era under Boehly with all the personnel changes.
It just remains to be seen if this season is one of transition for us, or if we really go out all guns blazing and challenge for titles.
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