Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has started to make major changes behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge following Graham Potter's appointment as Head coach.
It's been a hectic start to life in west London for Boehly after a summer transfer window in which the Blues spent close to £300million, before taking the decision to sack Thomas Tuchel just seven games into the new season. Chelsea are set for plenty more changes in the coming weeks as the American owner looks to add strong additions to the boardroom.
Petr Cech and Marina Granovskaia both departed the club following Boehly's £4billion takeover at Stamford Bridge and the Blues' hierarchy are now looking for a new director of football and chief executive. Boehly is understood to be a huge admirer or Red Bull's model with the Chelsea owner having discussed his plans to follow the Red Bull and Manchester City example of investing in a number of clubs worldwide to grow the Blues' brand and help source and develop talented youngsters that could play a key role in future success.
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Christoph Freund has agreed to take up the role of sporting director at Stamford Bridge after a series of talks which started last month, football.london understands. Freund would work alongside new head coach Graham Potter once a deal is complete and is renowned for having scouted the likes of Erling Haaland, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita.
The Athletic have reported that the Blues also held talks earlier in the summer with RB Leipzig Chief Executive Oliver Mintzlaff. Mintzlaff was among a number of individuals who have been spoken to as Chelsea attempted to prepare and strengthen their structure for the years ahead.
Tom Glick’s arrivals as president of business hints that a CEO is not a priority appointment for Boehly but that could change in the future. The 47-year-old German is believed to have been of particular interest to the west London regime and a meeting took place in the summer after Leipzig and Chelsea entered talks regarding Timo Werner and Josko Gvardiol.
Both parties took time to reflect on whether to continue talks after the summer transfer window closed, but ultimately they decided mutually against doing so, which means Mintzlaff will be staying in his current position with the Bundesliga side. Mintzlaff helped to establish Leipzig as Champions League regulars and shrewd operators around player development and trading, while also gaining experience in the multi-team idea that Chelsea wish to implement, but Boehly will need to look at other candidates as he continues to make major changes at Stamford Bridge that fit in with his long-term plan.
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