Calling Michael Edwards?

Why Chelsea need the former Liverpool Sporting Director

When the Boehly/Clearlake consortium bought Chelsea just over a year ago, one of the most anticipated elements of the takeover was the prospect of finally having a world class scouting and recruitment structure in place to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Now, all the people we’ve recruited - Laurence Stewart, Paul Winstanley, Joe Shields and Christopher Vivell, have to one degree or another been key in discovering unknown talents. Vivell is known as a world class squad builder. Laurence Stewart and Vivell have experience of the Red Bull network and multi club model which we want to build - and are likely to work more in that area as the model develops, and away from Chelsea.

The problem is, none of these four people has been a Director of Football - as in, the final guy who makes the decisions, oversees the entire football side, conducts negotiations on transfers or contracts, and oversees the whole football side of a club.

The way our current structure is set up, is, quite frankly, loaded with risk. Several reliable sources have reported there is no clear hierarchy, no one knows exactly who is in charge, and so this ends up with a confusing mess regarding decision making, which has, a reported on this site, led to lack of communication with some players about their futures and regards contracts.

Quite frankly, for a club with the ambitions and expectations of Chelsea, this is not good enough. The perception - whatever the truth - is that the club looks small, amateur, easy to manipulate, a pushover, and in some cases incompetent.

The whole saga with Mason Mount is simply not how a top club operates. With respect to those involved, it smacks of incompetence - this is certainly the perception of most people and fans especially, whether true or not - and it could now cost us the player.

Fans aren’t stupid. Judging by fans at matches I’ve been to, and on social media, they can all see this a mile off, and if we can, other clubs can too, and that could cause us damage and set the club back. It’s not even up for debate.

The shambles with Mason Mount, getting manipulated by Jorge Mendes around Manuel Ugarte and Brighton’s treatment of us in recent weeks, amongst other situations, have contributed to growing frustration and anger, partly at the ownership, but more at certain sporting directors we’ve hired, at how the club is being run.

Some fans I speak to have genuinely had enough, and feel we’re acting like a small club, not the ambitious, big club Chelsea actually are - and that other clubs know it and are, quite frankly, trying to take advantage of us.

Paul Winstanley, the reported lead negotiator on deals this summer, had no history in negotiating big player contracts and big transfers, or working at a big club, before coming to Chelsea.

On Winstanley, it is important to acknowledge he has a solid history in discovering young talent, particular in South America, and that the targets he has helped identify for Chelsea, both in January and for this summer, have generally been of the right standard, for which he deserves credit. He also deserves respect for helping drive the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino.

However, evidence is proving he is not the best in class in being the lead negotiator and head of football at an elite club like Chelsea. It’s not his skills set, and he’s never really performed this role before. That’s not what Chelsea needs in this role. His strengths are discovering untapped talent, and that’s where his sole focus should be, in my view.

So who are the best in class directors of football? There’s two names which always come up here, and one in particular we need to focus on, in my view.

Firstly, there is Paul Mitchell, who worked successfully with Mauricio Pochettino at Southampton and Spurs, and was reported last week to be departing Monaco. He has been linked with Chelsea, and would be an excellent appointment, especially given his close relationships with Pochettino, and Laurence Stewart, who he worked with at Monaco.

However the best in the business, the one Chelsea need to target in my view, and the one most consistently linked with Chelsea since the takeover is Michael Edwards, the scouting and recruitment mastermind behind the rise of Liverpool since 2015.

It’s been widely reported we made Edwards an incredible offer to become our director of football/ CEO of football last summer, and by all accounts he was blown away by the Chelsea project. The only reason he didn’t take the hob was his commitment to taking a year out of the game with his family, which led to Todd Boehly temporarily taking the role. According to this site’s very own Ben Jacobs, he never rejected Chelsea outright, and Chelsea are still big fans of his. Indeed Simon reported a couple of months back on here how Chelsea are still very much interested in the former Liverpool director of football.

It’s quite clear Chelsea need someone like Edwards. Someone with huge standing and respect in the game. Someone who won’t be manipulated by agents, who knows all the tricks, has the know-how, contract, reputation and experience to ensure Chelsea aren’t messed about or bullied in the market.

He’s also efficient. Player contracts are negotiated and completed without much fuss. Transfers are smart and usually done before the season ends, sometimes with little speculation beforehand. His talent ID is top class, and aligned with the scouting talent we have, it would ensure Chelsea are able to find and tie down the best talent. He has a big club mentality and can handle the pressure and expectation of being at one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

Not only this, but most Chelsea fans know who he is, and would back the appointment. There’s a clear desire on behalf of the fans for someone with his track record, authority, reputation and leadership to take control of the football side of the men's team. To coordinate the multi-club model, scouting, recruitment, contracts and to handle negotiations for first team signings and contract renewals. To be the go to football contact for agents and clubs who want our players. To work alongside Mauricio Pochettino in overseeing the development and building of an elite men's team - in the way Paul Green does with Emma Hayes in the women's team.

Michael Edwards being appointed would give lots of confidence to the fans that the owners are ambitious, want us to be best in class and have clear direction of travel as a club. It would avoid the miscommunication and shambolic mess we’ve had in the last few months. It would almost certainly buy the ownership a lot more patience and trust from the fanbase and would definitely give way more legitimacy to our project.

Of course it was impossible to hire him in January, but I’m pretty confident that had Edwards been in post since then, Chelsea would have renewed Mason Mount already, and be in a strong position regarding certain targets now heading elsewhere. He certainly wouldn’t be pushed around by Brighton over certain players, or be manipulated by super agents either. Both are unacceptable for Chelsea, both have been happening, and it needs to stop.

Everyone knows Chelsea need Michael Edwards - or if not him, Paul Mitchell - to head our football side. We need a figurehead, with authority and a proven elite track record, who can sort out the mess and alongside Pochettino, bring proven elite experience and leadership to the men's team and coordinate the other members of the team and areas of the football side, allowing the owners to step back and let the machine run smoothly.

He wouldn’t be available until September this year, so in the meantime the club needs someone to come in for the summer window, and be the number one guy for this summer regarding negotiations for contracts and players, to provide clear leadership and decisiveness.

We have the football experts and elite scouts to provide the expertise on that side and identify targets, together with Pochettino, so I would suggest bringing in a world class negotiator - which co-owner Behdad Eghbali has proved to be with both the Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez deals.

Concurrently, we can agree a deal for Edwards to take over as CEO of Football in September when his break ends - and maybe announce it as early as possible so other clubs and agents know who’s coming. Even the prospect of him joining might be enough to stop people messing us about.

It's clear as day Michael Edwards is who Chelsea needs. He was impressed by our project and vision last year, so persuading him shouldn’t be an issue now.

Chelsea must go to him again and make him an offer he can’t refuse, in order to get the Chelsea project with clear momentum and direction again. It’s simply a non-negotiable and no brainer at this point.

The Score