Hello and welcome to Early Doors Football. After a few tumultuous months of ownership for Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, Chelsea’s new footballing structure is starting to take shape. After ousting Marina Granovskaia, Peter Cech, and a few others, the American ownership have begun to put their stamp on Stamford Bridge. Today, I am going to look at the new individuals that Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghali have appointed, as the Americans have put together a very promising and intriguing group together, something that Chelsea had lacked for many years under the reign of Roman Abramovich.
Some of the more recent changes in London have come internally, with the likes of Neil Bath and Jim Fraser, the former’s right-hand man being handed improved roles. Bath, who has been with Chelsea since 1993, is now the Director of Football Development and Operations, having previously served in a variety of positions within Chelsea’s storied academy, Cobham. Jim Fraser has been given Bath’s previous position, as he now takes the reins of the academy, under the title “Head of Youth Development and Recruitment”. Both men will have a huge part to play in Boehly’s “Vision 2030” plan, which I feel is worth a brief discussion, as it will be central to Chelsea’s recruitment, both for the academy and first team.
Simply put, Vision 2030 is all about keeping Chelsea’s academy among the best in the world, ensuring that the academy to first-team pipeline remains flowing. The Blues have had a number of academy graduates play starring roles in previous seasons, with the likes of Mason Mount and Reece James flourishing for the first team, and this has only served to entice the academy to push on even more. Vision 2030 was put in place prior to the arrival of the American owners, but to Boehly’s credit, he and his associates have pushed this ideology to new heights. Many of the newly-hired recruitment staff, such as Christopher Vivell (who we will discuss more later), are perfect for this plan, as they have focused heavily on adept youth recruitment in previous roles. Even in the short time that the American’s have been in charge, the recruitment for this Vision 2030 philosophy has been nothing short of mouthwatering. Omari Hutchinson was poached from cross-town rivals Arsenal, and after already lighting the academy on fire, looks poised for first-team minutes in the coming weeks. A pair of brilliant midfielders were introduced in the summer, with both Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei joining. Chukwuemeka has already seen some first team minutes and has looked lively in his moments. It has been said that Potter was impressed with his work over the World Cup break, so one would imagine that he will have more opportunities. In a positive move for the United States, Gaga Slonina has joined from Chicago Fire as well. The goalkeeper remained in Illinois for the remainder of their season and is only now joining up with the squad in London, so it will be intriguing to see if he is to stay in the academy or will make a loan move in the upcoming January transfer window.
Boehly’s youth obsession hasn’t stopped either, with the Ivorian Datro Fofana and Brazilian Andrey Santos having been signed before the January window has even opened. Chelsea are wanting to “form a squad of players under 25 years old”, and they are certainly recruiting with that in mind. Outside of the recruitment, Lewis Hall has been given his first Premier League minutes under Potter, and impressed so much that he has earned a full-time first team role. Astonishingly, he has been with Chelsea since the Under 8’s, so he has truly climbed the ladder. This sort of accomplishment is precisely what Neil Bath will hope to (and has previously) replicate consistently in order to continue to keep first-team players alert and ready, knowing they can be replaced with one of many academy prospects at any moment. Hall has played primarily at wingback in his minutes with the first team, and has looked at home on the left hand side. This is particularly impressive, as his true position lies in the center of midfield. He has been a bombshell in every appearance, even out of position, so I am particularly excited to see him play in his natural role at some stage this season. He evidently has an incredibly high football IQ, so his all-round ability and intelligence has given Potter full confidence in the 18 year-old. Potter has been known to love players that can play in a variety of positions, so Lewis Hall’s versatility will undoubtedly make him a common fixture in the squad.
Moving away from Vision 2030, Kyle Macaulay was one of the first additions for Chelsea’s new recruitment team, having followed Graham Potter from Brighton following Tuchel’s sacking. Macaulay has worked with Potter since his days in Sweden, firstly as a performance analyst, then moving into a recruitment analyst role when the pair moved to Swansea and Brighton. He has already gotten to work, as he has been credited with driving Chelsea’s interest in 20 year-old Datro Fofana, who will be joining in the January window.
Macaulay was not the only recruitment staff member stolen away from Brighton by Chelsea, as Paul Winstanley made the move to London as well. Having worked with the pair of Macaulay and Potter already, this will be a key trio in scouting moving forward, as they all know what is needed for the manager, thanks to their pre-established relationship. Having served in a talent identification role prior to a promotion into Head of Recruitment, he has enabled Brighton to continue their track record of astute signings, with the likes of Leandro Trossard, Moises Caicedo, and Kauro Mitoma all flourishing for the Seagulls.
Following the others from the South coast, Joe Shields trades London for Southampton, after only a 3 month stay at the Saints. He made the jump from Manchester City’s academy to become Head of Recruitment in Southampton, but Chelsea were ready to make him Co-director of Recruitment and Talent thanks to his impressive resume. Shields was one of the individuals who brought the young Jadon Sancho to Manchester City, and although he only hit real heights at Dortmund, the talent identification is still something to appreciate. In his short time on the South coast, he made a pair of truly clever signings with the pair of Romeo Lavia and Armel Bella-Kotchap, who have both already excelled for Southampton. His positive relationship with Manchester City’s academy reaped benefits for the Saints, as they were able to secure multiple youngsters from the youth system of City. I am sure the Cityzen’s will be less willing to send players the way of Chelsea, but his strong network elsewhere will still prove valuable for Chelsea’s academy and first team.
Also experiencing a meteoric rise is Laurence Stewart, who makes the switch from Monaco. Liam Twomey of the athletic notes that “his big break at the top level came at the 2014 World Cup”, where he worked with England’s men’s team as a performance analyst, before bouncing between Manchester City, Everton, and most notably, RB Leipzig. Shortly into his tenure at RB Leipzig, he was promoted to Global Head of Scouting over the entirety of the main Red Bull system, something that Boehly and Eghali have surely taken note of. We know that the new ownership is looking to implement a multi-club structure, so Stewart’s experience certainly came into consideration. More recently at Monaco, he also dealt with a partnered club, Cercle Brugge, where he offered recruitment assistance. Once his gardening leave is completed, he will join Chelsea as a technical director “to focus on football globally”; such wording already alludes to a future multi-club model.
The most recent addition is Christopher Vivell, who will serve as a Technical Director. Like his soon-to-be colleague Laurence Stewart, he also has previous links to the Red Bull system. Initially, he was the Head Scout in Salzburg, before moving to Leipzig for the technical director role. Vivell can be credited with some very high profile signings, including none other than Erling Haaland, although one may note that the Red Bull system as a whole has a knack for brilliant talent identification, through both data and scouting. It would be reasonable to assume that if a multi-club system were to come into play in the near future, he would be a key player in it, along with the aforementioned Laurence Stewart. Much to the joy of Chelsea, he can begin work immediately, unlike some of his fellow recruits. Vivell will look to put his stamp on this January window, with hopes that his recruitment will help Chelsea push into the Champions League places.
The final piece of the puzzle may be a true Sporting Director, but currently, Todd Boehly remains in this post. Names like Paul Mitchell and Michael Edwards have been thrown around, however there are no concrete links at this time.
There is no doubt that Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghali have brought together some of the best names in the world of football recruiting and talent identification, but personally, I cannot help but wonder if this may turn into a “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario. Perhaps this is just a symptom of the previous regime, where Chelsea fans experienced nothing quite like this. Regardless, one thing is clear: collaboration and communication will be paramount. The new owners have stressed the desire for collaboration within their ranks, and while all the newcomers have been receptive to this in their statements, time will tell if they can all mesh. We know a component of Tuchel’s downfall was his unwillingness to collaborate with Boehly (for better or for worse), so it will be extremely intriguing to see how this incredible team of scouting and recruitment will pan out. With many of their positions being loosely defined, the true nature of this powerful structure will become clearer once they have all settled in. Their individual talents cannot be questioned, but they will face a new set of challenges as they shoot for the ultimate glory across domestic and European competitions.
That is all I have for today! Thank you all for reading and have a lovely day.
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