Chelsea part-owner Todd Boehly is set to continue his mass overhaul of the Blues behind the scenes as he eyes a new director of recruitment. It comes after the American businessman began a huge turnover of key staff in the club's football and operational staff, looking to get it working to their ideal model.
It's still relatively early days for the Clearlake-Boehly consortium, who took over in May but had to navigate through a summer transfer window with a record spend of £271million. All that was done under the guise of Boehly as an interim sporting director as he eyed further changes to the infrastructure.
The LA Dodgers owner has been on record discussing several aspects of changing the club, including the likes of using a multi-club model as well as making better use of the academy at their disposal. The latest move is to hire a director of recruitment - a role that has been left vacant by the outgoing Scott McLachlan last month.
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According to reports from Fabrizio Romano, Southampton's Joe Shields has been sounded out over a possible move to Stamford Bridge to fill the role. The Blues are believed to be closing in on an agreement that could be viewed as a huge statement of intent from Boehly.
Shields was highly influential to Manchester City's recent success, helping build their scouting network and finding the likes of Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho in his time as head of youth recruitment. In the summer, he made the switch to Southampton, being part of a squad overhaul that included signing a number of youngsters from City.
One of which was Romeo Lavia, who impressed so much in his short time at the Saints, the Blues are said to have offered £50million on deadline day to land the midfielder. Looking to poach the man behind the original deal, Boehly has made his move.
Pep Guardiola has been full of praise for the work of Shields, saying earlier this year: "The guy [former head of youth recruitment Joe Shields] who was here is now in Southampton and brings them there. It's an incredible experience at this early age to be ready to play almost week in, and week out. To try to do that is incredible."
It remains to be seen whether he can have the same impact at Chelsea in such a short time, however, the move could end up being a long-term one that could pay off for Boehly.
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