Chelsea FC co-sporting director Laurence Stewart is set to leave the club by mutual consent, in what club sources describe to Striver.Football as a natural evolution of the project.
Stewart joined Chelsea in 2022 and held the co-sporting director title. The 40 year old will not be leaving immediately and holds a fantastic relationship with fellow higher ups.
The decision to leave has been described as amicable. Chelsea owner Behdad Eghbali, who is hands on, has been working to tweak and evolve the model over recent months.
Xabi Alonso's arrival, alongside the recent tweak in transfer strategy from a previous heavily youth led model to a more balanced approach, has been joined up with more defined roles and responsibilities behind the scenes for the sporting leadership team.
Sources have told Striver.Football that there will be no imminent like for like replacement for Stewart. Instead, fellow sporting directors Sam Jewell and Joe Shields will hold greater responsibility on talent ID, recruitment and squad building.
Both also hold big responsibility in the data and analytics area when it comes to integration into player ID and recruitment. Sources tell Striver.Football that there is expected to be further additions to support recruitment and scouting.
Jewell and Shields will continue to work closely with Paul Winstanley, who leads on areas such as transfer negotiations, player sales and contract renewals.
Dave Fallows also works behind the scenes as part of the hierarchy, however his role is more advisory and does not hold day to day responsibilities like Jewell, Shields and Winstanley.
Stewart's work is highly respected inside Chelsea despite outside criticism. There is no link between Stewart's departure and the recent ownership structure change, which saw Todd Boehly and Mark Walter sell their ownership shares.
