German transfer guru Tim Steidten is likely to join Chelsea next season after parting ways with Bayer Leverkusen, according to Bild.
Steidten, according to Bild, recently informed Leverkusen that he would like to take up a new challenge after spending close to four years at the club.
But rather than waiting until the next season, both parties reportedly agreed to an immediate exit to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
The 43-year-old, who worked as a squad planner at Leverkusen, has attracted interest from several top clubs, including AS Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, and Chelsea.
Chelsea, in particular, had reportedly eyed Steidten last year before the formation of the club’s new sporting department in January.
Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley have now taken up the roles of co-sporting directors at Chelsea, while Steidten’s fellow German Christopher Vivell has become the technical director and focuses on football globally.
Kyle Macaulay, who arrived at Chelsea alongside Graham Potter, Joe Shields, and Jim Fraser are leading the recruitment team while Matthew Hallam leading on data and analysis.
In other words, the Blues already have plenty of experts in this department. So how would Steidten fits in at the club?
It is hard to say, but he could fill a similar role to what he had at Chelsea and focus on squad planning.
The club should arguably have enough people to not have a squad planner, but an additional expert could only help the team.
Before his stint at Leverkusen, Steidten was the head of squad planning and scouting at Werder Bremen, having started as a youth head scout at the club.
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