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Chelsea are reportedly interested in acquiring the services of Bayer Leverkusen's Tim Steidten as the club continues to search for a new sporting director ahead of the upcoming winter transfer window.
Earlier this month, the Blues parted ways with Thomas Tuchel and lured Graham Potter away from Brighton & Hove Albion to appoint him as the new head coach. Potter, who was reportedly the top choice for the job, penned a five-year deal with the Stamford Bridge outfit.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly is currently on a mission to hire a new sporting director, who is set to help Potter restructure his squad in January. For the majority of the summer, Boehly acted as the interim sporting director for the Blues after Marina Granovskaia's exit.
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According to The Athletic, Steidten has emerged as a new candidate for the role of sporting director at Chelsea. The west London outfit are aiming to rope in someone with a willingness to communicate and collaborate with everyone behind the scenes, including Potter.
Steidten, who started his career as a head scout for youth teams, earned his name as the sporting director for Werder Bremen. During his three-year spell, he helped the club complete transfers such as Serge Gnabry from Arsenal and Davy Klaassen from Everton.
Ahead of the 2019-20 season, Steidten joined Bayer Leverkusen as a squad planner. He has worked with sporting director Simon Rolfes to rope in talented players like Patrick Schick, Moussa Diaby, Kerem Demirbay, Adam Hlozek, and Sardar Azmoun.
As per the aforementioned report, Red Bull Salzburg's Christoph Freund, PSG's Luis Campos, AS Monaco's Paul Mitchell, and ex-Liverpool man Michael Edwards are also on Chelsea's shortlist.
The Blues have made nine additions to their squad this summer. The club signed the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana, and Marc Cucurella for a combined sum of over £250 million.
Chelsea will next be in action against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in a Premier League contest on Sunday, October 1.
Chelsea's Todd Boehly opens up on restructuring plans at Stamford Bridge
Speaking at the SALT Conference, Blues chairman Todd Boehly claimed that his consortium possesses the know-how to run a football team despite their lack of experience in the sport.
He said:
"I think we know people. We know human capital. We know game plans and strategies. Yeah, we’re not expecting to be the football experts, to find the best talent. We're going to put those people in place."
He added:
"I think it's no different to running any human-capital business where it's about getting the right resources, making them collaborate, getting them organised, thinking about how can have a global business at a local level."
