Monaco's Laurence Stewart appointed Technical Director at Chelsea
Stewart has worked in England with Manchester City, Everton and the Football Association
Written by Training Ground Guru — October 26, 2022
LAURENCE STEWART has been appointed to the new position of Technical Director by Chelsea, with a focus on “football globally.”
The Englishman joins the Premier League side from AS Monaco, where he was also Technical Director. He arrived at the French club in June 2020 as Head of Recruitment and Development, having previously been Head of Global Scouting for the Red Bull group of clubs.
His background prior to this was in recruitment and analysis, with Everton (as Senior Recruitment Co-ordinator), Manchester City (Head of Performance Analysis) and the Football Association (Performance Analyst). Last year Stewart was our guest on Episode #25 of the TGG Podcast, giving in-depth insights into his work at Monaco.
You can listen to the full episode via the link below.
During the course of a one-hour interview, Stewart explained: “My main areas of influence are recruitment, so the scouting department and performance analysis.”
He also outlined his work with Monaco’s sister club, Cercle Brugge in Belgium.
“Cercle Brugge take their own decisions, but with recruitment we have a relationship and I help them,” Stewart said. “We aim to recruit and work in the same way and have similarity of concept across both teams.
“Cercle Brugge give a good opportunity for player development and growth and we see a lot of high-value players coming out of the Belgian league. We have a number of players on loan there this season and they’re the second youngest team in Belgium in terms of on-pitch minutes.
“It’s the beauty of a multi-club model - you can put those principles in all your clubs and speed up the learning of your players if they move between clubs.”
Chelsea chairman and co-owner Todd Boehly is looking to develop a multi-club model as well.
During his time at Monaco, the team recorded consecutive third place finishes in Ligue 1 and were runners-up in the 2021 French Cup.
Stewart said: "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."
Boehly and co-owner Behdad Eghbali added: “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.”
Monaco later confirmed that Stewart would be leaving them at the end of the winter transfer window, which closes on January 31st 2023.
Boehly himself acted as Chelsea's Sporting Director during the summer transfer window, following the departures of Director Marina Granovskaia and Technical and Performance Director Petr Cech.
This was the source of some friction with manager Thomas Tuchel, who publicly lamented the loss of Cech.
Meanwhile, Joe Shields has joined Chelsea as Co-Director of Recruitment and Talent after less than four months at Southampton.
Shields joined Saints in July as Head of Senior Recruitment, having previously spent nine years at Manchester City, where he was latterly Head of Academy Recruitment and Talent Management.
Chelsea Chairman Todd Boehly and co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali said: “Joe is another great addition to Chelsea, and we’re thrilled to have him on board. We have a clear plan and will adopt a modern and data-driven philosophy, focused on elite emerging talent.
“We’re assembling a deep and collaborative management team who are eager to build a continued sustained winner at Chelsea. Joe has a great track record and understanding of the game and emerging talent. We know we have another strong leader and a team player who will help us continue to build our world-class football organisation.”
Paul Winstanley, Brighton’s Head of Recruitment, is set to join Chelsea in the coming days as their other Co-Director of Recruitment and Talent.
MAN CITY'S ANALYSIS TALENT FACTORY
- Pedro Marques (Performance Analyst for Man City and Global Lead for Football Performance at City Football Group from 2010 to 2018). Now: Technical Director at Benfica.
- Laurence Stewart (Head of Performance Analysis at City 2014 to 2016). Now: Technical Director at Chelsea.
- Aaron Briggs (Senior Performance Analyst at City 2018 to 2020). Now: Assistant Head Coach at Wolfsburg.
- Steve Rands (Head of Performance Analysis at City 2016 to 2018). Now: Head of Analysis at Nottingham Forest.
- Richard Bredice (Opposition Analyst at City 2014 to 2019). Now: Lead First Team Analyst and Set Piece Coach at Burnley.
- Simon Wilson (Head of Performance Analysis at City 2006 to 2010). Now: Director of Football at Stockport County.
- Ed Sulley (Head of Performance Analysis at City 2010 to 2014). Now: Director of Customer Solutions at Hudl.
