Michael Ballack on Chelsea shortlist for director of football role

Michael Ballack could be in line for a surprise return to Chelsea as their new director of football.

Standard Sport understands Ballack has been added to the list of names under consideration, which include another former Chelsea player, Juliano Belletti, and Lille’s sporting director Luis Campos.

Chelsea have not had a technical director since Michael Emenalo quit to join Monaco in November.

Ballack played for Chelsea between 2006-10 after joining on a free transfer from Bayern Munich. He helped the club claim the Double for the first time, plus two further FA Cups and a League Cup.

The 41-year-old former Germany international announced his playing retirement in 2012 and since then has mainly worked in the media.

Ballack still attends events at Chelsea on a regular basis and played in a Legends match against Inter Milan on Friday night — a match dedicated to Ray Wilkins, who passed away last month.

READ MORE: Conte - Chelsea MUST change their squad if they are to challenge for honours

READ MORE: Chelsea quartet AXED by Spain for World Cup

READ MORE: How it all went wrong for Conte at Chelsea

It was reported in December that Ballack had been asked to become a Chelsea ambassador but it is believed he is now in contention for a more senior role.

Club director Marina Granovskaia is owner Roman Abramovich’s most trusted aide and is Chelsea’s chief negotiator for transfers and player contracts.

Since Emenalo’s exit, Granovskaia has had an even bigger workload but the plan was always not to rush the search for a replacement and to intensify the search at the end of the campaign. Whoever lands the post will have to report to Granovskaia.

Ballack has a big reputation in the game, having won 98 caps for Germany and following his huge impact at Bundesliga clubs Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen.

Reflecting on his spell at Chelsea in an interview five years ago, he said: “It was a really successful and cool time. London is a brilliant city.”

As Standard Sport wrote in January, Belletti is also in the frame. The 41-year-old Brazilian was initially being earmarked to bring in a new philosophy at the club alongside possible new manager Luis Enrique.

The latter was the strong favourite to replace Antonio Conte, who is expected to leave this summer, a few months ago but his wage demands have made Chelsea hesitate.

Belletti played alongside Ballack at Chelsea between 2007-10 and has made frequent visits to the club in recent months. He also played in the game at Stamford Bridge on Friday.

Campos, meanwhile, has worked as a scout for Real Madrid and is credited with bringing through young talent, such as Kylian Mbappe, Anthony Martial, Bernardo Silva, Thomas Lemar and Tiemoue Bakayoko, who is now at Chelsea, during his time at Monaco.

Laurent Blanc, the former France and Paris St-Germain manager, was also linked with the post. The 52-year-old had also been mentioned in despatches for the possible managerial vacancy, too.

Dutchman Marcel Brands was another man being talked about but he is now unavailable, having just accepted a job at Everton to be their director of football.