According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea are now in talks to hire Michael Edwards after he left Liverpool earlier this year.
What’s the story?
Well, Todd Boehly is keen to appoint a new Director of Football at Stamford Bridge following the departure of Marina Granovskaia, and he has set his sights on the man who only recently walked away Anfield.
Edwards left transfer negotiations in the hands of Julian Ward before departing Liverpool at the end of last season, following a glittering stint on Merseyside where he helped create one of the best sides on the planet.
The transfer guru was responsible for the bargain £34m signing of Mohamed Salah, while he also ensured the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Thiago, Andy Robertson – who only cost £8m – Diogo Jota and Fabinho arrived at Anfield.
Impressively, Edwards did so while keeping Liverpool’s net spend at a healthy level, obtaining significant fees when selling deadwood such as Christian Benteke, Dominic Solanke, Mamadou Sakho and Jordan Ibe.
The Daily Mail add that Chelsea face difficulty in convincing Edwards to join them, as he intends to take a year-long break before getting back to action.
Chelsea are said to want someone hired by the end of September, so they will either have to do something special to make Edwards change his mind, or hire a short-term option while they wait.
Chelsea need to be more like Liverpool
Boehly’s interest in Edwards makes sense, as Chelsea have adopted a scattergun approach for too long now.
For example, the Blues spent £45m on Timo Werner in 2020, before spending £97.5m on Romelu Lukaku to take his place – the pair were handed salaries of £272,000-a-week and £325,000-a-week as well.
Now, Chelsea no longer want either player, as they offer Werner back to RB Leipzig in a bid for Josko Gvardiol, while Lukaku has been loaned back to Inter Milan after one dreadful season.
That isn’t to mention their panicked approach to finding a new centre-back this summer, after allowing the likes of Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guéhi to leave in recent windows.
For too long, there has been a lack of strategy when it comes to recruitment at Chelsea, but Edwards would surely change that.
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