Emenalo quits with Monaco keen
AFTER stepping down as Chelsea’s technical director, Michael Emenalo is already being targeted for a return to football with Ligue 1 giants Monaco. Emenalo has been a key cog in the Chelsea machine under Roman Abramovich but has seen his role increasingly under pressure in an internal power struggle between Marina Granovskaia, a key Abramovich confidante, and manager Antonio Conte. Conte’s future beyond this season is by no means secure but the manager himself is not thought to be a reason for the Nigerian’s departure. Indeed, Emenalo helped bring Conte to Stamford Bridge and has overseen transfers, women’s football and youth development while the former Juventus boss won a Premier League title in his first season. What the Premier League champions do to fill the void left by Emenalo’s departure is still uncertain and will be decided at the top of the club by Abramovich in consultation with directors Eugene Tenenbaum and Granovskaia.
Should Emenalo wish to return to work anytime soon then Monaco are interested in his services as they look to solidify their place among France’s elite and as a perennial Champions League team. The sharp increase in Ligue 1 television revenue has allowed them to further invest in a club that raked in enormous transfer income last summer.
Emenalo is one of a number of candidates that the principality club are looking at to strengthen and oversee their sporting infrastructure and that includes scouting and identifying talented youth players and channelling them into the first-team – something Emenalo has had immense success doing in west London. They have also considered approaching Barcelona’s under-fire sporting director Robert Fernandez for a similar post.
The lack of pathway from academy to first team at Stamford Bridge has been a significant issue for Abramovich, but Monaco are keen to blood young talent and are looking to create a similar sort of moneyspinning model employed by FC Porto and Benfica where they develop and make profits on the continent’s best young players. – The Independent