FC Salzburg's Christoph Freund offers major Chelsea update on sporting director role

FC Salzburg’s Christoph Freund has responded to reports of Chelsea being in advanced talks over their sporting director vacancy at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s new owners are making it a priority to fill the role before the World Cup commences in November. Following the appointment of Graham Potter as the club’s new head coach on a long-term contract - to which he will have a say - work is being done to appoint a sporting director.

The likes of Michael Edwards and Paul Mitchell have been linked in the past, but recently Freund has been claimed to be in advanced talks with Chelsea over the role in the capital.

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly was full of praise for Red Bull’s multi-club model, something he wants to implement with the Blues, at the SALT Conference in New York earlier this week. 

Boehly admitted: “We’ve talked about having a multi-club model. I would love to continue to build out the footprint.

"There is different countries where there are advantages to having a club - Red Bull does a really good job with Leipzig and Salzburg, both of which are playing in the Champions League. So they’ve figured out how to make that work.

#𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗡𝗬 has got a bit of everything. #ChelseaFC chairman Todd Boehly offers a fascinating glimpse into his global vision for the English Premier League club. pic.twitter.com/wa9aBHuGKe

— SALT 🇺🇦 (@SALTConference) September 13, 2022

“You have Man City that also has a big network of clubs. The challenge that Chelsea has right now, or at least one of them, is when you have 18/19/20-year-old superstars, you can loan them out to clubs, but you put their development in someone else’s hands.

“So our goal is to make sure we can show pathways for our young superstars to get onto the Chelsea pitch, while getting them real game time.

"And for me, the way do that is through another club in a really competitive league in Europe.”

Chelsea played Salzburg in the Champions League on Wednesday night and drew 1-1 in Group E. Freund was in attendance and responded to questions linking him with a move. 

He told Sky Sports Austria: "I've had exchanges with Chelsea from time to time.

"We spoke more often a month or two ago because they were interested in (Benjamin) Sesko.

"The new owners are interested in how we do it with young players, how we integrate them into the first team. But you do that again and again with other clubs – that's it.

"Chelsea is a huge club in transition. I can't say exactly what will happen in the next few weeks and months.

"You should never rule anything out in football and Chelsea are such a huge club.

"But I'm sports director in Salzburg and I really enjoy it."