Chelsea and Todd Boehly are probably taking longer than they initially envisaged to appoint their new sporting director to take over permanently from Marina Granovskaia.
The last few months have been hectic for the west Londoners. Boehly and Clearlake Capital have tried to get their feet under the table at Stamford Bridge following their £4.25billion purchase from previous owner Roman Abramovich.
However, the purchase, which was made official at the end of May, was right before the transfer window kicked off. At the same time that the Americans were trying to stabilise the ship, the departures of Granovskaia, Petr Cech, Bruce Buck and more brought instability amongst the ranks, to the point whereby Boehly acted as interim sporting director for the most recent summer transfer window which ended in the LA Dodgers co-owner spending £270m-odd on new recruits.
READ MORE: When Chelsea's Christoph Freund contact may have begun amid Victor Orta sporting director update
Amid the transfer window goings on and Boehly getting down to work, learning on the job as he went, the new ownership group had wanted to make progress in recruiting their new sporting director.
Liverpool's Michael Edwards and Monaco's Paul Mitchell were the early frontrunners in this race but for differing reasons - including the former of the pair wanting to take a break from football and the latter's club not wanting to see their employee leave - neither move was possible in the end.
Then came the Christoph Freund saga which turned out ending in disappointment for the club. It was publicly known that there was confidence within the club that the RB Salzburg guru would move to SW6 but the Red Bull group fought hard to keep their prized asset and they managed to do just that and frustrate Boehly in the process.
A statement by Freund at the time read: "As I have already confirmed in interviews, Chelsea FC was interested in me.
"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.
"We're in the middle of a very intense phase and have important tasks to do in the Bundesliga, Cup and Champions League – that's what my focus and concentration are all on."
Now what? Rumour has it that Leeds' Victor Orta and Bayer Leverkusen's Tim Steidten are the next two names in the frame to be approached but is Boehly missing a simple trick here?
Look at Arsenal with Edu Gaspar and most recently West Ham with Mark Noble. Former players are being brought in to run the football side of things. Edwin Van Der Saar at Ajax is another example of a club icon doing very well in a sporting director role or similar.
Therefore, should Boehly consider hiring a former player? Cech, who has experience in a boardroom type of role at Chelsea and others like John Terry and Michael Ballack, could fit the bill if this was to end up being the route the West London outfit were to go down following on from the Freund saga.
Chelsea fans- Would you prefer to see a club icon hired as the new sporting director or would you rather have someone who is an established expert in the field instead? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
READ NEXT:
Marina Granovskaia sacrifices leave Todd Boehly facing defining £105m Chelsea transfer decision
Mason Mount World Cup chances rated as Graham Potter Chelsea verdict delivered
Free transfers Todd Boehly can make to improve Chelsea's midfield amid Kante and Jorginho issues
'Bad for football' - Why Thiago Silva could turn to management with Chelsea after record break
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and gossip from Stamford Bridge
