Oliver Mintzlaff has insisted he is happy at RB Leipzig despite speculation linking him with a switch to Chelsea.
The Blues are on the hunt for a new sporting director. As football.london reported over the weekend, Chelsea were hopeful to appoint Red Bull Salzburg chief Christoph Freund to the vacant role, but the deal has now collapsed.
Freund has since come out and revealed the keen interest from Chelsea, but the Austrian insisted he is staying where he is for the time being. He said: "As I have already confirmed in interviews, Chelsea FC was interested in me.
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"When such a big club asks, it not only honours me and the work of FC Red Bull Salzburg, it is of course also a circumstance that entails personal considerations. But I've come to the conclusion that I'm in the best of hands with FC Red Bull Salzburg and that a change is out of the question for me."
Chelsea have been linked with a host of other names, including Paul Mitchell, Michael Edwards, Victor Orta, Tim Steidten and Mintzlaff. The latter, Mintzlaff, has now played down rumours over his future and said he is more than happy at Leipzig right now.
He said to Sky Germany, via BuliNews: "I am under contract at Leipzig until 2026 and I will also fulfil my contract. We still have a lot of plans, not only on the pitch but also off it. I feel comfortable where I am."
The 47-year-old has been with the Bundesliga club since June 2014. The German also operates as the Red Bull "Head of Global Soccer".
Meanwhile, football.london understands talks with Edwards and Mitchell took place earlier in the summer. Chelsea approached former Liverpool chief Edwards, but after leaving Anfield last season, he wants to take a season out of football. Mitchell is someone of interest to Chelsea, but the AS Monaco sporting director recently insisted he was happy with his current role.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly, who filled the sporting director role on an interim basis over the summer, is determined to appoint someone before this year's FIFA World Cup. Boehly wants to focus on other areas of the club and wants the Blues to be in the best possible position for the upcoming transfer windows.
It would not come as a shock if Boehly was to appoint multiple people to his new-look recruitment team. The American billionaire recently revealed that he is interested in a multi-club model, something that can benefit Chelsea.
He said at the SALT Conference: "We're going to be continuously adding resources. We've talked about having a multi-club model. I would love to continue to build out the footprint.
"There are different countries where there are advantages to having a club – Red Bull does a really good job with Leipzig and Salzburg, both of which are playing in the Champions League. So they've figured out how to make that work.
"You have Man City that also has a big network of clubs. The challenge that Chelsea has right now, or at least one of them, is 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.
"So 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. And for me, the way to do that is through another club in a really competitive league in Europe."
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