Chelsea are close to appointing Christoph Freund as their sporting director to work alongside Graham Potter.
Freund has agreed to become the new sporting director at Stamford Bridge, after a series of talks that started last month, football.london understands. There is not, however, an agreement with his parent club RB Salzburg yet.
The Blues will be hoping to wrap a deal up as soon as possible with the hope of having Freund in his new role for the upcoming transfer windows. Todd Boehly acted as the interim sporting director over the summer window, with Chelsea very busy in terms of incomings and outgoings at Stamford Bridge.
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Freund is very experienced in his role after becoming the sporting director in Salzburg in 2015 where he replaced Ralf Rangnick. He now has a very strong track record when it comes to identifying up and coming talent.
Salzburg's model is to essentially nurture raw talent and then sell the players on for huge profit when necessary. It's a proven model and one that their sister club, RB Leipzig, also use.
The most high-profile transfer Freund has been involved in is bringing Erling Haaland to Salzburg from Molde. After being prolific in his homeland of Norway, Freund took a gamble on bringing the now 22-year-old to Austria and it more than paid dividends. Haaland only played 16 times in the league for Salzburg – scoring 17 goals, typically – before he was sold to Borussia Dortmund for £18million. Salzburg made more than £10million in profit from where they purchased him from Molde 12 months before.
When speaking just after his move to Dortmund, Freund tipped Haaland to become one of the world's best strikers. Let's just say, his prediction doesn't look too bad right now.
"I have known him for a year and a half and Erling has it all, he is exceptional as a footballer and for his character," Freund said on Haaland. "He is focused on improving.
"You never know what can happen 100% in the future, but I see him playing in a great club and being one of the best strikers in Europe and the world, if not the best, for the next decade. His potential is enormous."
It's not just Haaland Freund is responsible for, though. The Austrian also helped in deals for Salzburg to sign or/and sell Sadio Mane, Karim Adeyemi, Dayot Upamecano, Jonathan Soriano, Patson Daka, Enock Mwepu, Naby Keita, Dominik Szoboszlai and Duje Caleta-Car. All of these players were sold on for profit after a small initial investment from Salzburg.
As per prices on Transfermarkt, over Freund's time as sporting director at the club, Salzburg – on transfers alone – have received £428.9million. In the same amount of time, the Austrian club have spent £131.7million on incoming players, meaning an estimated profit of almost £300million – £297.2million, to be precise.
Of course, Chelsea have a very different model than Salzburg, so it may not come as second nature for Freund to settle into a role in west London. However, what Chelsea will be getting with Freund is someone who has a fantastic talent ID and a man who has a track record in nurturing players with enormous potential.
Chelsea are hoping to get this deal done as soon as possible. Boehly wants a new sporting director in his role before this year's World Cup, so naturally if Freund is appointed by then, he will help with the January transfer window. Boehly would take a step back after his role as interim sporting director and switch his attention to other matters involving the club.
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