Reports suggest that Chelsea have been left stunned after RB Salzburg’s Christoph Freund decided to reject their offer to become the new sporting director at the club.
According to 90min, the Blues were confident of appointing the Austrian this week, however are now being forced to look at their other potential suitors.
The Blues are currently actively hunting to fulfil the role on their board after Todd Boehly took up the position on an interim basis over the summer.
With the American being new to the sport this year, it is obvious that in an ideal world he would not be taking too much responsibility in terms of running the club without people firmly in the know.
Chelsea rejected by Freund
Despite having a very strong transfer window, his inexperience is showing, with the footballing world having a field day with his open comments that the Premier League would do well to learn from American sports in terms of adding an All-star game to their season.
They looked set to make Freund the first figure added to the new-look board, however his loyalty to the Red Bull project has left Chelsea having to return to the drawing board.
According to 90min, the Blues were surprised that Freund turned them down, as they were confident he would take up their offer and make the switch to Stamford Bridge.
He was seen in West London just last week, as Salzburg faced Chelsea in the Champions League in Graham Potter’s first game.
Even in just 90 minutes, it was easy to see how the Austrian sides’ recruitment has helped put them in a position to fight for points in Europe’s top competition, with them in a position to potentially qualify from what on paper looked a difficult group for them.
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