Todd Boehly turns attention to chief who spotted Erling Haaland for new Chelsea role

Todd Boehly is interested in hiring Red Bull Salzburg chief Christoph Freund as Chelsea ’s new sporting director.

Chelsea chiefs Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are pushing ahead with their plans to hire someone to oversee the club’s strategy before the World Cup kicks off in Qatar in November. Salzburg director Freund is one of the names in the frame, along with Paris Saint-Germain advisor Luis Campos and former Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards.

Freund, 45, was one of the key figures in persuading Erling Haaland to join Salzburg from Molde for just €8million back in August 2018. “It was a very long process for Erling,” he told Goal two years ago. “We first noticed him in 2016 at a game for the Norwegian under-16 national team.”