Chelsea have confirmed that Laurence Stewart is their new technical director and Todd Boehly has hailed him as a “world-class football leader”.
At Chelsea, Stewart will be expected to “focus on football globally”.
Stewart is taking up this role after completing his commitments with Ligue 1 side AS Monaco. He had been with them since June 2020.
He told the club’s official website: “I’m delighted to be joining Chelsea and excited about the vision and direction of the club under the new ownership group.
“I am excited to join them to help them build a world-class global sporting organisation to consistently win on the pitch at the highest levels and provide player pathways to help develop our talent.”
Under new boss Graham Potter, the Blues secured their passage to the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-1 victory at RB Salzburg on Tuesday evening and currently sit in fifth place in the Premier League table.
In a joint statement, chairman Todd Boehly and co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali said: “Laurence is an important appointment as we plan to build a deep sporting team that will collaborate closely.
“Laurence is a world-class football leader who understands talent management, data and scouting, player development and performance.”
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Stewart is a former head of performance analysis at Manchester City and senior recruitment co-ordinator at Everton, and worked in a performance analyst role during England’s 2014 World Cup campaign in Brazil.
This news comes after it was reported that Chelsea want Southampton’s Joe Shields to be their new head of recruitment. He joined the Saints in the summer following a spell at Man City.
Fabrizio Romano confirmed this news earlier this month and he stated that Sheilds is “highly rated”.
“Chelsea are closing in on the agreement with Southampton to appoint Joe Shields as new Director of Recruitment.
“Huge statement by club owners as Shields is highly rated after his top work with Southampton and Man City, discovering many talents.”
The Blues are also on the lookout for a new sporting director. They did identify RB Salzburg’s Christoph Freund as their preferred candidate but he opted to remain in Austria.
“As I have already confirmed in interviews, Chelsea FC was interested in me.
“When such a big club asks, it not only honours me and the work of FC Red Bull Salzburg, it is of course also a circumstance that entails personal considerations.
“But I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m in the best of hands with FC Red Bull Salzburg and that a change is out of the question for me.”
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