Todd Boehly will no longer act as Chelsea's sporting director after a turbulent first half-year at Stamford Bridge, according to reports.
The American tycoon, 49, stepped into the role on an interim basis following the departure of ex-Blues transfer chief Marina Granovskaia. Highly-regarded thanks to her work under Roman Abramovich for more than a decade, she left west London shortly after the Russian oligarch.
Abramovich was forced to sell the club after 19 years at the helm following his homeland's invasion of Ukraine, which saw the his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin emerge. Boehly, who fronted a consortium's £4.25billion takeover, took it upon himself to fill in for Granovskaia but endured a tricky start to English football.
As well as taking the ruthless decision to sack popular manager Thomas Tuchel after just seven games earlier this season, Chelsea have splashed out more than than £350million on transfers and received diminishing returns.
In a fresh twist, the 49-year-old has relinquished his title as interim sporting director, according to the Daily Telegraph. While Boehly will still have a say on transfers, he and fellow co-owner Behdad Eghbali have handed over power to new technical director Christopher Vivell and Paul Winstanley, the Blues' director of global talent and transfers.
Vivell and Winstanley were pictured either side of new signing Benoit Badiashile last week, after the French defender arrived from Monaco in a £35m deal. The pair will soon officially be joined by Joe Shields, recently appointed as co-director of recruitment and talent, and Laurence Stewart, who's been given the title of technical director. The report adds that Boehly is fully behind manager Graham Potter following a difficult first four months in charge.
Chelsea's recruitment drive for the January transfer window is already in motion, with Badiashile being joined by Ivorian wonderkid David Datro Fofana and RB Leipzig star Christopher Nkunku expected to arrive at Stamford Bridge this summer. The Blues have also reached an agreement to sign Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid, paying €11million (£9.68m) for his services over six months.
Have your say! Who should Chelsea sign in the January transfer window? Give us your picks in the comments section.
However, it doesn't appear that Chelsea will be getting their hands on top target Enzo Fernandez this month, with Benfica holding firm. Manager Roger Schmidt declared on Monday that talks over the 21-year-old midfielder's potential departure are "closed".
"The issue with Enzo is closed, there is no issue anymore," the Benfica boss said of Fernandez, who recently won the World Cup with Argentina and was crowned Young Player of the Tournament. "He's our player, he's in a very good condition, he's training well, he's happy, so he's part of the squad and a key player. I think I've already said everything about him."
