While the focus is on transfers and the transfer market, Chelsea’s search for a sporting director is also taking a back seat, with the hope of having someone in place, if not very soon, then certainly sooner of the next January transfer window.
However, our main target, Michael Edwards, is unavailable, despite leaving Liverpool at the end of the season. While he’s said to have been impressed by Chelsea’s new ‘project’, and there’s no non-compete clause or anything like that preventing him from joining, he’s simply not stopping his planned sabbatical. He had decided to take a break and spend time with his young family after almost 20 years of non-stop work, starting at Portsmouth and Spurs and joining Liverpool in 2011.
According to Ben Jacobs, Chelsea threw everything but the kitchen sink at Edwards and made an “amazing offer,” but Edwards isn’t ready to go back to work just yet.
An additional understanding about Michael Edwards is this #CFC they have had several meetings with him. In the most recent one they made him an incredible offer. Edwards, according to several sources, was blown away by the project. Really impressed. But he reiterated that it is not available in the short term. https://t.co/Izz0b7PE2q
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) August 5, 2022
So the question is, should we keep waiting or move on to other candidates? Monaco’s Paul Mitchell has also been mentioned often, although it is clear that Edwards is and has been our first choice given his success, with Chelsea’s new owners hoping to implement a similar working model to Liverpool.
While it’s understandable (and good!) that we’d want an athletic director in place and soon, Todd Boehly didn’t intend to appoint himself to anything more than an interim basis for the role, and he places great value on filling this position correctly, if Edwards should be available early next year, well in time for next summer’s transfer window, it might be worth keeping some sort of temporary structure in place .
On the other hand, we don’t want to drag things out for too long. There is also a lot of work to be done outside the transfer windows, especially in terms of planning, contracts (renewals etc.) and creating an overall vision for the club’s future.
Great piece here on Chelsea’s imperfect summer #cfc:
– Why Boehly and Co will evaluate after 100 days
– It’s still too early to panic
– Boehly “talking to everybody”
– The metrics that the new owners will use
– Evaluation of the appointment of Sports Directorhttps://t.co/w9ESQUu9VL
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) August 5, 2022
