Chelsea recently held positive talks with Christoph Freund and even struck an agreement with the Red Bull Salzburg sporting director, but a deal could not be agreed between the two clubs.
The Blues are looking to bring a new sporting director to the club to ease the burden on Todd Boehly, who worked in the role over the summer transfer window on an interim basis. Freund has a very impressive track record at Salzburg, where he has been the Austrian club's sporting director for more than seven years.
In that time, with the help of the Austrian, Salzburg have made around £300million of profit from transfer-related business alone. Freund has a knack, along with the club's impressive scouting team, of discovering hidden talents around the world and selling them on for a huge profit.
