Chelsea will now 'hold more talks' with 43 y/o at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea will hold ‘more talks’ with Bayer Leverkusen chief Tim Steidten over their sporting director vacancy, according to CBS reporter Ben Jacobs.

The Blues are currently assessing candidates to fill the role following the departure of several high-profile members of the backroom staff in the opening months of Todd Boehly’s ownership.

Over the summer, Marina Granovskaia, who largely took charge of transfers during the Roman Abramovich era, and the technical and performance adviser Petr Cech departed west London.

Boehly also replaced Bruce Buck as chairman while Chelsea’s head of scouting, Scott McLachlan, club doctor, Paco Biosca and head physio Thierry Laurent left in September.

And it appears as though appointing a new sporting director is taking precedence for Boehly with The Guardian reporting that they are set to step up their pursuit of Steidten.

Red Bull Salzburg’s Christophe Freund has seemed set to make the switch to Chelsea after Fabrizio Romano announced that a deal was in place only for the Austrian chief to decide he’d rather stay put in his homeland.

Other candidates such as Michael Edwards and Paul Mitchell have also come into the frame alongside Steidten, and a decision is expected to be made over the coming weeks.

Jacobs has disclosed that there are a ‘few other candidates’ in the frame alongside Steidten for the sporting director role at Chelsea but that talks with the 43-year-old will continue imminently.

Read more: Premier League 22/23 Game week 9: Fixtures, predictions, odds, table & everything you need to know

In an interview with GiveMeSport, he said: “There’s a few other candidates being considered.

“There’s Tim Steidten, who is the sporting director at the moment at Leverkusen, and more talks