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Chelsea bidders considering Paul Mitchell as Chelsea’s technical director to finally succeed Michael Emenalo

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3 years ago

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Paul Mitchell as Chelsea’s technical director: According to The Athletic, two out of the three shortlisted bidders are chasing Monaco’s sporting director, Paul Mitchell, to fill the responsibilities of a technical director at Chelsea. The reason the bidders are hoping to bring Mitchell in is to offset the departure of Chelsea’s previous technical director, Michael Emenalo, should their bid prove successful.

Chelsea’s technical director position has been left vacant ever since Michael Emenalo stepped down from his role back in 2017. Currently, Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech are the ones chiefly responsible for identifying and pursuing Chelsea’s transfer targets. However, the role of a technical director is much more diverse and isn’t just limited to recruitment processes. Technical directors are largely tasked with restructuring of football through player contracts, overseeing club’s playing philosophy, academy duties, recruitment of staff and the like. Hence, in modern football, having an official technical/sporting director has become increasingly important as it helps in strengthening the foundation of the club.

Following Thursday’s development on the takeover front, The Ricketts family withdrew their candidacy for Chelsea’s ownership. Their resignation has caused the takeover contest to become a three-horse race between Todd Boehly, Sir Martin Broughton and Stephen Pagliuca’s consortiums.

As reports suggest, two out of Chelsea’s three remaining prospective owners – the names of whom have not been revealed as of yet – have made appointing a technical director their foremost priority. On their radars, is AS Monaco’s sporting director, Paul Mitchell, who was being targeted by Manchester United as well.

Paul Mitchell as Chelsea's technical director

Mitchell still has 2 years left on his deal w Monaco, however, recent speculation has indicated that he was considering leaving Monaco due to a change in the club’s political climate earlier this year.

This doesn’t mean his move away from the club is guaranteed as Monaco’s president Dmitry Rybolovlev is still determined to keep the transfer guru around considering his impressive portfolio and the evidence of his outstanding impact at MK Dons, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and RB Leipzig – where he had managed to build his reputation as a recruitment specialist. There’s an emphasis on the theory that Rybolovlev will particularly be keen on keeping Mitchell at Monaco, seeing that they are just three points off the Champions League places and he considers no one else better equipped to adequately protect their place in the league than Paul Mitchell.

Taking Paul Mitchell as Chelsea’s technical director on board doesn’t mean it will threaten to upset the status quo of Chelsea’s existing sporting setup consisting of Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech – whose role is that of an advisor – and although Marina’s future is uncertain, it is understood that the prospective owners acknowledge her importance to the current club setup and will wish to keep her.

The news comes in largely unjust circumstances as Chelsea could see an exodus from the club with a few mainstays in the likes of Antonio Rüdiger, Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen all likely to depart in a single window on account of their contracts reaching expiration. This makes the appointment of a technical director all the more important as the current situation only suggests the club are due for a harsh regression in case the takeover saga isn’t concluded soon and Chelsea are finally able to renew player contracts.

Despite all the wishful thinking, it remains to be seen if Mitchell himself would be interested in a move to Chelsea. However, considering Chelsea are a club synonymous with winning and being at the forefront of the game and also keeping in mind their global success, it wouldn’t take a lot of convincing for anyone to say yes to a club that’s so steeped in history and emotion.

 

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WATCH: Chelsea’s out-of-favour striker Romelu Lukaku scores twice in action-packed second half 🔥

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3 years ago

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May 7, 2022

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Romelu Lukaku scores twice v Wolves: Chelsea welcomed Wolverhampton Wanderers to Stamford Bridge tonight in a contest where they were hopeful of reversing their poor run of form to guarantee themselves a Champions League berth.

Despite the Blues receiving two goal scoring opportunities in the first-half of the game, it still ended in a stalemate. However, as the second-half commenced, Romelu Lukaku stepped up to strike twice in quick succession to put Chelsea on a trajectory toward what appeared to be a deserved victory at that time.

Romelu Lukaku scores twice

Lukaku’s goal tally for Chelsea this season has totalled up to 14 now, causing him to become the highest goal scorer for the Blues, just a goal ahead of Kai Havertz. His performance tonight underlines his renewed confidence as he looks to be approaching the sort of form that had deserted him for most of the season. 

Watch how Romelu Lukaku scores twice in quick succession to give Chelsea’s scoreline an uplift:

The first goal came in response to a VAR call for a foul committed by Saiss on Romelu Lukaku as both players were caught up in a tangle on the edge of the penalty area. 

Watch Lukaku’s left-footed penalty here:

The second goal was a Pulisic interception that found Lukaku who then completed the play with an emphatic low finish from the edge of the box with his weaker right foot.

Lukaku wasn’t able to register himself on the scoresheet for Chelsea ever since the start of year 2022 – a daunting prospect for such an expensive striker – however, that record has been laid to rest today as his goals v Wolves have certainly managed to make a statement of his intent.

It’s a shame that a subpar defensive performance from his side overshadowed his monumental return to form. Chelsea were stripped to bone with comeback goals from Wolves that added misery to Chelsea’s hopes of securing a victory. The game ended in an unanticipated 2-2 draw. 

After racking up underwhelming results from their recent run-ins, Chelsea are looking a lot less comfortable in the rough and tumble of Premier League’s top-four now. With the fourth-placed Arsenal and fifth-placed Tottenham breathing down Chelsea’s neck, their margin for error has now decreased to just two points, especially after having picked up only 5 points from a possible 15.

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Official: Todd Boehly’s consortium signs agreement with Chelsea FC to succeed Roman Abramovich

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3 years ago

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May 7, 2022

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Chelsea released an official statement in the early hours of Saturday morning confirming that the terms have been agreed with the LA Dodgers’ part-owner Todd Boehly’s consortium to complete the £4.25bn takeover of the club though the acquisition is yet to be approved by the Premier League authorities as well as the UK government.

Todd Boehly's consortium

The statement read:

‘Chelsea Football Club can confirm that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group, led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjoerg Wyss, to acquire the Club’.

Last week, it was revealed that Todd Boehly & Co were Raine Group’s preferred choice to succeed Roman Abramovich following which the group were given one-week window of exclusive negotiations with the club to finalise the takeover. The deal had appeared in doubt due to late interest from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, however, those fears were dissipated as the Ratcliffe bid was later dismissed on account of his inability to complete the sale process by May 31st – the date when Chelsea’s current license expires.

Although the group is fronted by Todd Boehly, private equity firm Clearlake Capital is the one providing the majority of the financial firepower to it. The consortium also includes Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, Boehly’s fellow LA Dodgers’ owner Mark Walter and the British property developer Jonathan Goldstein.

As per Chelsea’s official statement, the £4.25bn headline sum includes the £2.5bn cost required to secure shares in Chelsea – which will go into a frozen UK bank account for the purpose of releasing 100 per cent of the proceeds to charitable causes – the remaining £1.75bn is the amount the group have committed to invest in the club’s future, covering costs regarding redevelopment projects and ensuring there are sufficient funds in place for operational use.

‘The proposed new owners will commit £1.75bn in further investment for the benefit of the Club. This includes investments in Stamford Bridge, the Academy, the Women’s Team and Kingsmeadow and continued funding for the Chelsea Foundation’.

Few final, obligatory steps remain in the official transfer of ownership of Chelsea Football Club to Todd Boehly’s consortium, one of which requires all group members to complete the Premier League Owners’ and Directors’ Test. Furthermore, Chelsea will have to apply for the amended license from the UK government that would upgrade the club’s operational capacity in addition to allowing the transaction to go ahead. The preparations are underway as the Raine Group wants the sale process to reach its completion as soon as possible.

 

 

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Chelsea team news v Wolverhampton Wanderers: Four players on the injury list, including a midfield duo. 

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3 years ago

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May 6, 2022

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Chelsea team news v Wolverhampton Wanderers: Chelsea welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to Stamford Bridge on Saturday where they will be looking to reverse their poor run of form to guarantee themselves a Champions League berth. There are four player absentees that have been confirmed so far by head coach, Thomas Tuchel, in today’s pre-match conference.

After racking up underwhelming results from their recent run-ins, Chelsea are looking a lot less comfortable in the rough and tumble of Premier League’s top-four now. With the fourth-placed Arsenal and fifth-placed Tottenham breathing down Chelsea’s neck, their margin for error has now decreased to just three points, especially after having picked up only 4 points from a possible 12.

Chelsea team news v Wolverhampton Wanderers: The central midfield duo N’Golo Kante and Jorginho are ruled out of action for tomorrow’s clash as reported by Thomas Tuchel at a press briefing today.

Additionally, the long-term absentees Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell also remain restricted to the sidelines, despite returning to light training.

N’Golo Kante had sustained a knock in the game against Manchester United, consequently missing last weekend’s trip to Everton where his fellow midfielder Jorginho was taken off the pitch at interval.

‘For N’Golo it comes too early. Jorginho is out as well, these two are missing. Callum and Ben Chilwell are still out,’ said the Blues boss.

The duo’s unavailability will give way to introducing Kovačić and most likely RLC in their stead as the latter is currently enjoying an upturn in form.

Chelsea team news v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Mateo Kovačić returned to action as a half-time substitute last weekend after missing a couple games on account of nursing an ankle injury. He stands the highest chance of featuring a start in tomorrow’s game v Wolves.

There is a growing feeling that Tuchel might give Romelu Lukaku a start tomorrow, considering his substitute Kai Havertz is also struggling to find the form that has recently deserted him.

Thomas Tuchel has expressed optimism regarding Lukaku’s reaction in training this week. The Blues boss said;

‘I want him to be an important part of the squad, right now he is very important. There is no recruitment and no players are about to leave because it’s simply not possible,’

‘We need to adapt all the time, to contractual situations and also individual situations, to what we and the players want.

Chelsea team news v Wolverhampton Wanderers

‘We signed a big player, he is a big player. He didn’t come on [at Everton] as we had only three changes, and unfortunately we used one at half-time with Jorginho. Otherwise there was a huge chance we had the same changes as against West Ham, with Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech,’

‘He trained very well, maybe he starts tomorrow, we’ll see.’ 

 

 

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