Chelsea have taken a step closer towards appointing a sporting director as Todd Boehly looks to restructure the club's backroom makeup. The American billionaire is in the market for a transfer specialist to join the Blues' scouting team and Bayer Leverkusen boss Tim Steidten looks poised to land the role at Stamford Bridge after moves for RB Salzburg chief Christoph Freund and Paris Saint-Germain advisor Luis Campos failed to materialise.
Earlier this month, The Athletic stated that Steidten was shortlisted by the west Londoners as a candidate for the sporting director role. Now, according to The Guardian, Chelsea are planning further talks with the 43-year-old.
Before taking the head coach role at the Bundesliga outfit this summer, Steidten was head of scouting at the BayArena. At Leverkusen, he was responsible for the signings of bright prospects Moussa Diaby, Patrik Schick, Amine Adli, Adam Hlozek and, more recently, Callum Hudson-Odoi on loan.
READ MORE: 'Love Georgie Boy'- John Terry sends heartwarming Chelsea retirement message to John Obi Mikel
Prior to that, he enjoyed spells as a scout, director of football, head of scouting and executive assistant at Werder Bremen, where he is said to overachieved in each position. At the German club, Steidten signed Serge Gnabry, who has grown into one of Europe's leading wingers.
Appointing a sporting director is a part of Boehly's plan to copy the Red Bull and City Group model - a collaborative recruitment network. Speaking at the SALT Conference in New York, he discussed his vision for Chelsea as he looks to move away from the club’s infamous use of loanees.
"We’ve talked about having a multi-club model," Boehly said. "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."
READ NEXT:
Edouard Mendy, N'Golo Kante: Chelsea injury news and updates ahead of Crystal Palace trip
Rio Ferdinand clashes with Chelsea legend as Reece James uses Ballon d'Or trick
Kai Havertz sends clear message to Graham Potter on Chelsea role with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
John Terry sends heartwarming Chelsea retirement message to John Obi Mikel
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and gossip from Stamford Bridge
