(Football news) Joe Shields only joined Southampton in the summer from Manchester City but according to Fabrizio Romano he has reportedly agreed to make the switch to Chelsea instead.  It’s a slightly awkward situation with Southampton letting Shields on administrative leave yesterday but they got to know that he was approached by Chelsea. Should he officially accept the role he could be subject to a lengthy notice period and gardening leave, perhaps as much as six months. Southampton might be willing to reduce that penalty in exchange for cold hard cash.

Shields’ experience and comfort zone is mostly in recruiting youthful players and academy recruiting, which is apparently why he’s set to join only as a “co-director” of recruitment as his job is to identify talent and help with the club's youth system. According to reports, Chelsea could be looking to add as many as four new people in the coming months including technical director as Todd Boehly continues  to revamp the entire behind-the-scenes operation.

Shields joined Southampton after nine years at Manchester City, working in scouting and recruitment for their academy. He previously had recruitment roles at Crystal Palace and Fulham before his big move to Chelsea. The club are reportedly going to appoint Christopher Vivell as their technical director after the German was sacked by RB Leipzig and Todd Boehly also wants a sporting director. The club have identified Norwich City’s Stuart Webber as a candidate for that role. Webber has been at Carrow Road since 2013 and previously held positions at QPR, Huddersfield, Wolves and Liverpool.

Also read: Real Madrid and Barcelona gear up for crucial El Clasico