Chelsea are set to appoint Christoph Freund as their new sporting director, according to reports this weekend.
The London club are operating under a new ownership after the Todd Boehly-led consortium completed a £4.25bn takeover in May earlier this year. Part of the re-build has involved the hunt for a new sporting director - which appears to be coming to an end.
Chelsea had been linked with Liverpool 's former director of football, Michael Edwards, who parted ways with the Merseyside club at the end of last season. It was reported by The Athletic last month Edwards was the leading target for Boehly, but he turned down the opportunity to work at Chelsea.
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Edwards spent more than a decade at Liverpool and was a key figure in their recruitment strategy that has become admired by teams across Europe. The ex-Liverpool sporting director reportedly informed Chelsea he intended to take some time out and away from football, so taking on a new role was not an option at present.
It's now being reported by Fabrizio Romano that Boehly is close to appointing an alternative in RB Salzburg sporting director Freund. The 45-year-old has been at the Austrian club since 2006 and has been in his current post since 2015.
Freund has played a key role for transfers including Erling Haaland, Sadio Mane, Naby Keita and Dayot Upamecano. It has been claimed personal terms with the Austrian have been agreed and negotiations are ongoing with Salzburg.
He addressed the rumours linking him with a move to Chelsea ahead of the two team's meeting in the Champions League earlier this week. “Chelsea is a huge club in transition,” Freund told Sky Sports Austria. “I can’t say exactly what will happen in the next few weeks and months. You should never rule anything out in football and Chelsea are such a huge club. But I’m sports director in Salzburg and I really enjoy it.”
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