It’s been almost five years, but ChelseaChristopher Vivell, the former technical director Michael Emenalo’s successor, has been appointed.
Well, that’s one way of looking at it.
Vivell will be the first person to be employed in the role of technical director since Emenalo’s shock resignation in November 2017; Petr Cech’s rather woolier job title of ‘technical and performance advisor’ always suggested he had less influence, and in the messy final months of the Roman Abramovich era it appeared the only significant duty the club’s long-time goalkeeper had directly inherited from Emenalo was fielding the awkward media questions that those above him in the hierarchy would rather avoid.
Vivell (35-year-old) was the technical director of the German Bundesliga club. RB LeipzigFor the past two years, Emenalo has been working in a completely different context than Cech and Cech. New owners have very different ideas about best-practice when it comes to running a top football club.
It has been suggested he will lead Chelsea’s data and scouting operations, effectively making him something more akin to a replacement for departed head of international scouting Scott McLachlan — but, in truth, his role is not yet 100 per cent defined.
That is primarily because Chelsea’s new co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital are not done hiring.
They plan to appoint an athletic director, ideally before January’s transfer window opens. LiverpoolMichael Edwards, Red Bull Salzburg sporting director Christophe Freund turned down the job.
