Chelsea are aiming to raid Brighton once more by adding their head of player recruitment Paul Winstanley to the club. football.london understands Winstanley will join the club's new-look transfer team.
The news comes after Graham Potter and his backroom staff moved to west London seven weeks ago. Potter, who replaced Thomas Tuchel as manager in September, was appointed quickly and took Bruno Saltor, Kyle Macaulay, Ben Roberts, Bjorn Hamberg and Billy Reid with him to Cobham.
The group played a huge part in Brighton's success under Potter and already look to be a great addition for the Blues. Potter is unbeaten in his first eight games, with five wins and five clean sheets in that time. The 47-year-old manager is part of a longer-term plan in place at the club, with new co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital at the forefront of an internal structure rejig. Part of that has been the movement of senior director roles, and after a turbulent summer, Boehly is set to make some key appointments.
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Joe Shields, who is head of recruitment at Southampton, is also expected to become a Chelsea employee whilst the search for a new sporting director also continues. According to reports, Winstanley is another who is set to join the Blues' resurgence.
Talks continued throughout the remainder of October and into November, and Winstanley's appointment looks close to being confirmed. A new report from The Athletic states that Winstanley has been placed on 'gardening leave' by Brighton, implying the deal between the clubs is close to completion as Winstanley can no longer influence any further proceedings at Brighton.
Plenty of Chelsea fans will be wondering who he is and what he can bring to the table. So, with that in mind, let's take a brief look at his career to date below.
Career so far
Winstanley spent nine years as a professional footballer at Manchester City between 1991 and 2000 before moving into analytical work at Wigan Athletic in 2003.
As a performance analyst manager, he helped The Latics achieve promotion to the Premier League and make the 2005/06 League Cup final before departing in 2008. Winstanley then made the switch to Derby County, where he spent six years as the head of analysis.
Since 2014, he's operated as both a talent identification manager and now the head of recruitment at Brighton. Winstanley's reputation has been greatly enhanced in recent seasons after Brighton made several top signings. Yves Bissouma, now of Tottenham, Leandro Trossard and Moises Caicedo have all been heralded as players that have been unlocked at Brighton.
Karou Mitoma looks to set to be added to the list of gems unearthed by Brighton after he was brought in over the summer from J1 League side Kawasaki Frontale for just £2.5million, with the 25-year-old grabbing two goals in his last two appearances against Wolves and Arsenal.
He will ultimately bring a wealth of experience to Chelsea.
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