Well, that looks like that then.
After a weekend where numerous sources were reporting that Chelsea had agreed personal terms with Christoph Freund (and there’s no reason to believe that’s not true), it’s become increasingly clear in the last 24 hours that the RB Salzburg sporting director won’t be joining the Blues after all.
There were quotes from Stephan Reiter, Salzburg’s CEO, that said his man wasn’t leaving, and just now the cub’s official Twitter page has published a statement from him making it very clear that Freund is staying.
Chelsea are even mentioned by name as an interested party, but the door is now very much shut it seems. The quotes say they understand Freund’s interest in such a big move, but make it clear he’s going nowhere.
Natürlich hat er mich über das Interesse des FC Chelsea an seiner Person informiert und wir haben uns dazu auf persönlicher Ebene und in guten Gesprächen ausgetauscht. Fakt ist, dass er weiterhin unser Sportdirektor bleibt! (2/3)
— FC Red Bull Salzburg (@RedBullSalzburg) September 20, 2022
This is another rather public pursuit that has gone awry. Chelsea will need to start either getting these deals done, or start keeping them secret. At the moment, they’re getting rings run around them.