Chelsea head into the international break with plenty of excitement around the club following the appointment of Graham Potter.
Potter has only taken charge of one game so far – a 1-1 draw against Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday – and he will now have to wait until October 1 for the next opportunity, against Crystal Palace. But the former Brighton boss now has a good opportunity to stamp his authority on the club, with two weeks on the training pitch at Cobham.
He won’t be the only busy person at the club, with owner Todd Boehly making moves in regards to appointing a new sporting director. Petr Cech and Marina Granovskaia are gone and new expertise is needed at the Blues. Here Mirror Football brings you all the latest Chelsea headlines.
Freund close to role
Chelsea are close to appointing Christoph Freund as their new sporting director.
Boehly cleared the deck upon taking over the club from Roman Abramovich in May, with Cech, Granovskaia and Bruce Buck all leaving their roles behind the scenes. The American billionaire is now close to finalising his choice to replace himself as sporting director.
Freund is currently working for Red Bull Salzburg, where he helped sign Erling Haaland from Molde in 2018, and where he found players like Sadio Mane, Naby Keita and Dayot Upamecano.
“Chelsea is a huge club in transition. I can't say exactly what will happen in the next few weeks and months," Freund told Sky Sports Austria recently. He now appears to have made up his mind to join the Blues after impressing Boehly over recent talks.
Broja catching Potter’s eye
Graham Potter could be about to give Armando Broja a chance in the Chelsea team after the forward impressed in training.
Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner left Chelsea over the summer and while Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have arrived, Broja is still catching Potter’s eye. The new Blues boss reportedly believes the 21-year-old Albanian international has what it takes to lead the line in his high-pressing system.
Broja spent last season on loan with Southampton and was not given much of a chance by Thomas Tuchel, but Potter’s arrival is good news for him.
Door open for Hudson-Odoi return
Callum Hudson-Odoi believes he could still return to Chelsea and breakthrough due to Todd Boehly’s different approach.
Hudson-Odoi has joined Bayer Leverkusen on loan for the season, but Boehly insisted the German club would not get an option to buy the winger in the agreement.
Hudson-Odoi told the Daily Mail : "It's definitely different. When a club is trying to get a player [on loan], they always want that option to buy at the end of the season. Todd was saying: 'Listen, we want you back here.'
"You're still on the radar of being wanted by the club. The way he's trying to set it up, there are a lot of young players he's trying to buy for the next few years. It shows he wants to integrate the players into the team and help them develop."
