Norwich City's Stuart Webber emerges as contender to become new Chelsea sporting director
Norwich City's Stuart Webber has emerged as a contender to become Chelsea's new sporting director.
The 38-year-old has been targeted by the Premier League giants as part of their restructure following Todd Boehly's takeover.
It is believed that the Welshman has already held talks with the Blues, and some reports have even gone as far to suggest that he is "likely" to accept the job if he is offered it.
Webber has been the Canaries' sporting director since 2017 after joining from Huddersfield Town, and led the club to two Championship titles in 2019 and 2021.
However, they then went on to finish bottom in both subsequent Premier League campaigns, only registering 21 and 22 points respectively.
That resulted in Webber coming under fire from a section of supporters for what they perceived as poor recruitment in the transfer market, while others questioned his commitment after he revealed earlier this year he had started training to climb Mount Everest.
Off the pitch, Webber has helped drastically improve the club's training facilities, including the purchase of a state-of-the-art piece of technology called the Soccerbot 360.
If he does make the move to Stamford Bridge, Webber would work under Christopher Vivell, who is expected to join Chelsea as technical director after leaving German club RB Leipzig.
Chelsea have turned to Webber after RB Salzburg's Christoph Freund ultimately rejected the chance to switch to west London.
Neil Adams would likely take over from Webber, in the interim at least, after being promoted to the role of assistant sporting director at Carrow Road last year.
The Canaries are currently second in the Championship, but are now level on points with third-placed QPR after they lost their most recent game at home to Preston North End on Saturday.
Analysis by ITV News Anglia's Andy Ward
Ask Norwich City fans whether they'd be happy to see Stuart Webber leave the club, and you'll undoubtedly get a mixed reaction.
Some are eternally grateful for the excellent work he's done in upgrading the club's previously outdated and tired training facilities, and perhaps even more importantly, the two Championship titles he's managed to deliver.
However, others are critical of the club's poor showings in the Premier League and Webber's role within that, especially last season when a record amount of money was spent by the Canaries.
Of course, that spending was still dwarfed by bigger clubs in the top flight, but the feeling among many Norwich fans is that last summer's recruitment massively contributed to their failure to stay up.
Listening to Webber in recent times, there's a sense that he perhaps feels he's taken the club as far as he can and he's made no secret of the fact that he's open to a new challenge.
Joining one of the world's biggest clubs would certainly be that, but having interviewed him personally, the one thing you cannot question is his self-belief.
You can guarantee he will give it everything he's got at Stamford Bridge if he does land the job.
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