Chelsea are closing in on an agreement with Southampton to appoint Joe Shields as their director of recruitment. He is the head of senior recruitment at St Mary’s and is highly regarded by Chelsea for his work there and at Manchester City.
Shields joined Southampton in July and was responsible for signing Roméo Lavia, a defensive midfielder for £10.5m. Chelsea then had a £50m offer for the 18-year-old rejected. Lavia was recruited from City along with two other teenage talents, Juan Larios and Sam Edozie, and the 20-year-old goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu.
