Premier League side Chelsea Football Club on Wednesday appointed Christopher Vivell as the club’s new technical director, taking over from Peter Cech, the former Chelsea goalkeeper who left in the summer after three years in the role.
Vivell, German by nationality, previously worked at RB Leipzig, where he was responsible for recruitment and scouting across all age groups.
He also spent five years with Leipzig’s sister club Red Bull Salzburg in Austria as head of scouting and recruitment, overseeing the signings of Leicester City striker Patson Daka, Manchester City hitman Erling Haaland, and Dortmund forward Karim Adeyemi during his time in Austria.
Despite being only 34 years old, Vivell is an accomplished scout who formerly served as the first-team scout at Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga.
The new technical director will be expected to aid manager Graham Potter in looking for a new striker.
Despite having elite forwards like Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Blues’ scoring output has fallen short of expectations.
Two of the strikers that Vivell scouted, Daka and Haaland are now competing in the Premier League, therefore one might be persuaded to believe that Vivell will most likely keep an eye on the two with the hope of suggesting a move to Stamford Bridge.
Daka has so far scored three goals this season in 7 starts out of 14 games for Leicester City in the Premier League where he has also provided two assists, so he looks to take over the main striker’s role from veteran striker Jamie Vardy.
He has scored 14 goals and contributed with 6 assists across all competitions in 54 appearances since joining the English club on July 1, 2021.
Luring Haaland, who has already scored 18 goals in his first 13 Premier League games for Manchester City, to Chelsea would be a huge ask for the Graham Potter-drilled side, while it would be possible to get Daka from Leicester City with a convincing asking price.
Daka was once second fiddle to Haaland at Salzburg, but among the many goals he scored that season, he managed two hat-tricks and three braces, which was impressive.
He was able to carry on with the scoring momentum for the Red Bull Salzburg side even after the departure of the Norwegian, and he is largely tipped to do better than the aging Vardy at Leicester City.
Vivell surely knows the kind of play that suits Daka, and if given the chance to join Chelsea, his numbers in the Premier League would double in no time.
Daka typically gets into advanced areas where he can be played in behind, but this hasn’t happened at Leicester City, where he usually needs midfield runners to cut it across from deep inside the box.
Given the opportunity to play alongside Chelsea’s midfield, which includes players like Sterling, Kai Havertz, and Mason Mount, Daka would benefit from their ability to make runs and create scoring opportunities in perilous attacking positions.
Vivell was involved in the transfers of notable players such as Dayot Upamecano, Amadou Haidara, and Naby Keita to RB Leipzig, as well as Erling Haaland to Borussia Dortmund.
While at RB Leipzig, he also facilitated the moves of Dayot Upamecano to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, Ibrahima to Liverpool, Tyler Adams to Leeds United, and Ademola Lookman to Atalanta.
