Chelsea: Kyle Macaulay now 'working on targets' at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea are ‘still at work’ over appointing a new sporting director but they remain focussed on the January transfer window, according to journalist Dean Jones.
The Blues’ new owner Todd Boehly is currently shaking up his backroom staff, and finding a successor for Marina Granovskaia appears to be at the top of his to-do list.
It seemed as though Chelsea had secured their top target for the sporting director role after Fabrizio Romano reported that a deal had been agreed to bring in Christoph Freund from Red Bull Salzburg.
However, the 45-year-old chief decided to stay put with the Austrian giants, much to the shock of Romano and several other high-profile reporters.
“It was a very big surprise as a deal between Freund and Chelsea was 100% agreed on Sunday afternoon,” the transfer guru explained in his CaughtOffside newsletter.
“Both parties were ready to sign contracts this week on a five-year deal but then it collapsed because Red Bull group bosses wanted to keep Freund as an important part of the project.”
Freund himself even admitted that Chelsea ‘wanted’ him and that he was ‘proud’ of their interest, but Boehly has now been forced to assess alternative options.
Jones has informed GiveMeSport that Kyle Macaulay, Chelsea’s head of scouting, who followed Graham Potter from Brighton is assessing targets while the search for a sporting director continues.
He said: “Chelsea are still at work on the sporting director appointments, but that does not mean there is not work being done for January’s transfer market too.
“I’m told Kyle Macaulay is working on targets and is also involved in the discussions over who could be brought into that sporting director role, just to make sure the whole process and vision is streamlined.”