Chelsea clarify senior roles as they pursue 'data-driven philosophy'
Paul Winstanley will be Chelsea Sporting Director, along with Laurence Stewart
Written by Training Ground Guru — February 2, 2023
CHELSEA have moved to clarify the roles and responsibilities of their senior leadership team, with Laurence Stewart set to finally join from AS Monaco next week.
Stewart was announced as the club’s new Technical Director in October, but had to serve a lengthy notice period with the French side, where he has held the same position since June 2020.
Chelsea have now said that Stewart’s title at the club will be Sporting Director, which will involve overseeing “the entire sporting team, comprising talent, scouting, recruitment and data.”
Paul Winstanley, who joined in November from Brighton, where he was Head of Recruitment, will have the same job title and responsibilities as Stewart. Chelsea had originally said that Winstanley’s title would be Director of Global Talent and Transfers.
Winstanley has been on board at Stamford Bridge for a couple of months and helped to oversee Chelsea’s January transfer strategy, alongside their board.
German Christopher Vivell, who was appointed in late December after two years at RB Leipzig, will still have the title of Technical Director and “focus on football globally.”
Chelsea added that Joe Shields, Kyle Macaulay and Jim Fraser would “lead on talent management and recruitment”. Shields joined from Southampton at the end of last year as Director of Recruitment and Talent; Macauley is Head Coach Graham Potter’s long-standing Recruitment Analyst; and Fraser, who has been with the Blues for more than 18 years, was recently promoted to Head of Youth Development and Recruitment.
Meanwhile, Matthew Hallam, who joined Chelsea in 2011 as an intern and soon built a bespoke scouting database for them, will “lead on data and analysis” in the new regime.
Chelsea said: “The team’s focus will be on ensuring Chelsea is competitive and sustainable on the pitch, investing in the growth of the sporting department team to identify, nurture and develop talent over the long-term with a modern data-driven philosophy.”
Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali took ownership of the Blues in May and have been overseeing significant changes both on and off the pitch.
