Profile: Who IS ex-Chelsea Technical Director Michael Emenalo?
The resignation of former Chelsea Technical Director Michael Emenalo has been touted in the immediate aftermath as a huge blow to Roman Abramovich’s blue empire.
The former Nigerian international has been a figure of stability at a club infamous for chopping and changing, so here is a breakdown of exactly how important Emenalo has been for the Blues during his 10 year stint, over a variety of different roles.
The term of ‘Technical Director’ has always been one of those many ambiguous hierarchal positions, barely understood by the person employed for it, let alone the general public.
For Emenalo, the role came as a result of his steady climb through the Chelsea management roles. Having arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2007, the 52-year-old worked with the first-team as an opposition scout, before replacing Ray Wilkins as Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant first team coach in November 2010.
Since taking over the role of Technical Director in July 2011, Emenalo has been credited with overseeing the success of Chelsea’s academy system.
Despite continuing the desperate trend of integrating zero academy players fully into the first team, the last decade has arguably established Chelsea’s academy as the most successful in the country.
Emenalo’s involvement and experience here is paramount, as he became the man at the head of the relentless Chelsea loan system, and also oversaw the youth team managers as some sort of authoritative head honcho.
As is the case with any role at a football club, it comes as no surprise that Emenalo has not been without criticism. In recent years, he has been scapegoated by sections of the Chelsea fanbase for letting young players with top potential leave the club.
Undoubtedly, seeing both Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne reach dizzying heights after leaving the club has left a bitter taste in the mouth of the fans, but also for Emenalo himself.
Yet even despite these errors in the game of transfer signing roulette, successes are still clear to see. One of the first signings recommended by Emenalo as Technical Director was to be Eden Hazard — and five seasons on from the Belgian’s arrival, it would be tricky to find someone at Cobham who speaks ill of the decision.
Throughout the 52-year-old’s involvement at the club, Chelsea won nine major trophies, including their maiden Champions League victory in 2012. Incidentally, and probably unsurprisingly, Emenalo also worked alongside nine different Chelsea managers, making him a figure of stability and experience throughout the club’s success and troubles.
The reappointment of pantomime villain Jose Mourinho in 2013 demonstrated the hallmark of how vital Emenalo was to owner Roman Abramovich throughout his tenure.
The former Nigerian international’s offer to resign from his role to facilitate the return of Mourinho — and the offer’s swift rejection — highlighted both Emenalo’s dedication to ensuring Chelsea’s success, and his importance to Abramovich.
Rumours since his resignation have suggested that Emenalo is eyeing up a job with French club AS Monaco, although nothing concrete has yet to surface on his next move in football.
