This includes new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly relieving Marina Granovskaia from her director role.
But this has left a gap at Chelsea which needs to be filled if the Blues want to be successful in the transfer market going forward.
The smart option, given Boehly’s lack of footballing experience, would be to sign a Sporting Director, and that is what Chelsea look set to do.
The man set to be appointed at Chelsea is Christoph Freund:
Christoph Freund set to sign as Chelsea’s new sporting director, as first reported last week. He’s already verbally agreed to the role. Talks began when #CFC enquired about Benjamin Sesko in early August with Todd Boehly impressed by Red Bull model & Freund’s data-led background.
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) September 18, 2022
Freund is currently RB Salzburg’s Sporting Director, and has been in the position for over seven years.
During that time he has signed and sold some top, top players. Here are the top five RB Salzburg players signed under Freund.
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5. Karim Adeyemi
Only 17 at the time, Adeyemi went on to score 33 goals and provide 24 assists in 94 outings for the Austrian outfit.
The striker has since earned himself a move to Borussia Dortmund worth £27m and continues to prove himself as one of the most promising young forwards in Europe.
4. Brenden Aaronson
Aaronson is likely already a familiar face to most Chelsea fans as he ran them ragged and scored last month during Leeds’ 3-0 hammering of the Blues.
The American’s off-the-ball work is superb and he is also a very versatile option.
Aaronson joined Salzburg in January of 2021 from Philadelphia for around £11m and was sold to Leeds over the summer for £29m.
3. Dominik Szoboszlai
Szoboszlai joined RB Salzburg as a youngster in 2017 from Főnix FC.
The attacking midfield went on to score 26 and assists 34 in 83 matches for the Austrian giants. He also caught the eye with some superb showings for Hungary, with a number of big clubs – including Arsenal and Bayern Munich – showing an interest before he was sold to RB Leipzig for £19.8m in January of 2021.
2. Dayot Upamecano
Upamecano is now plying his trade with Bayern Munich and is a key figure in their backline.
Before signing for Bayern, though, the Frenchman was picked up for less than £2m by Salzburg in the summer of 2015.
He only played for Salzburg for 18 months, but was sold to RB Leipzig for over £16m once it was clear what a top defender he would become.
1. Erling Haaland
Before he was terrorising Premier League defences on a weekly basis, Erling Haaland was being discovered by Freund.
Salzburg signed Haaland from Molde in January of 2019 for £7.2m. He spent one year in Austria where he scored 29 in 27 before being sold to Borussia Dortmund for £18m.
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