Kieran Maguire: Chelsea to agree new deal ‘very rapidly’ amid Olivier Mintzlaff latest
Chelsea will turn their attention to a new sporting director candidate “rapidly” following Olivier Mintzlaff’s deicison to remain at RB Leipzig.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the Blues’ hunt for a new top overseer to pull the strings behind the scenes at Cobham.
Petr Cech and Marina Granovskia both left their high-ranking director roles at the West London club following Todd Boehly’s takeover in May.
Highly-rated Leipzig CEO Mintzlaff is understood to have been top of Chelsea’s list of targets for the vacant post.
But as relayed by the Evening Standard on Wednesday (21 September), the 47-year-old has now publicly confirmed his commitment to the Bundesliga club.
It has been a tumultuous week at Chelsea, who were forced to sack commercial chief Damian Willoughby after less than a month in the role as inappropriate text messages to a female finance agent were exposed by the press.
Top communications director Steve Atkins has also stepped down to join McLaren Racing.
Maguire insists that it is vital that Chelsea sort out a new sporting director appointment post-haste.
“Chelsea’s former CEO, Marina, was lauded as an excellent, negotiator, organiser and manager of the team,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“Therefore, having her position replaced by someone with A) the right experience and B) a vision that is aligned with the club owners is absolutely essential.
“So, it is therefore really important to get a CEO who is rowing in the same direction as the coach and the owners.
“Therefore, that is something that Chelsea will target very, very rapidly.”
In other news, pundit lambasts “unprofessional” Christian Pulisic after “dumbfounded” Chelsea news.