Christopher Vivell, a potential candidate for a behind-the-scenes position at Chelsea, has made an abrupt departure from RB Leipzig.
Standard Sport reported last month that the German had been added to a list of targets at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea plan to appoint both a new sporting director and a technical director, with the interview process set to step up in October.
Vivell was targeted for the technical director position after the Blues missed out on Red Bull Salzburg chief Christoph Freund, with Todd Boehly eager to follow the Red Bull multi-club model.
Now the process of potentially hiring him appears to have become much easier after Leipzig confirmed his sudden exit on Friday.
“Christopher Vivell was dismissed from his role as technical director on Thursday due to different contrasting views,” the Bundesliga outfit said in a statement.
“His duties will be taken over by by the existing setup until Max Eberl’s tenure as sporting director begins.”
Vivell had been technical director at Leipzig since 2020 and was responsible for transfers and scouting, credited along with Freund for helping to discover Erling Haaland.
Along with Vivell, Chelsea have also held talks with Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Tim Steidten, while also being linked with Leeds’ Victor Orta, Atalanta talent scout Lee Congerton, Sevilla director of football Monchi and Rui Pedro Braz at Benfica.
Former Liverpool transfer guru Michael Edwards is not believed to be ready to step into another job of this size, while talks collapsed with both Freund and Paris Saint-Germain’s Luis Campos.
Boehly is currently operating as interim sporting director as well as chairman at Chelsea but is keen to hand over transfer responsibilities before the World Cup in Qatar after a hectic first summer window in charge.
Chelsea’s previous transfer guru, Marina Granovskaia, departed following the summer takeover along with technical director Petr Cech and chairman Bruce Buck as part of a backroom overhaul under the Boehly/Clearlake regime, who purchased the club from Roman Abramovich.
