Michael Emenalo (born 14 July 1965) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He is the former director of football of Chelsea F.C and AS Monaco FC.

Playing career

Emenalo began his career in his native Nigeria before moving to the United States, where he attended college at and played for Boston University, from 1985 to 1988. He played for Molenbeek in Belgium, Eintracht Trier in Germany, and Notts County F.C in England before going back to the US. Emenalo was part of the original allocated players for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and spent two seasons (1996–97) with the San Jose Clash. After that, he played with UE Lleida in Spain and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. Emenalo won 14 caps for Nigeria and played in the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

, missing the first game through injury but then, played against Argentina and Greece before Nigeria was knocked out by Italy.

Technical director

Emenalo became director of player development at the Tucson Soccer Academy in the US in 2006, before joining the coaching staff at Chelsea when former manager Avram Grant was in charge in 2007. After the departure of Ray Wilkins, Emenalo was promoted from his position as chief scout to assistant first team coach on 18 November 2010. On 8 July 2011, Chelsea appointed Emenalo as Technical Director of the club. He completely restructured the club's academy, scouting, loan and women's team setups, and is credited as a key figure behind the club's success having overseen the scouting and transfers of key players including Juan Mata, Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah,

N'Golo Kanté N'Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Chelsea and the France national team. Considered by many to be one of the world's best midfielders, Kanté is widely prais ...

, Eden Hazard, and Cesc Fàbregas. He has been credited by numerous sources as being the driving force behind Chelsea's most influential signings. He has also been credited for the development of the Chelsea Football Club Academy (CFC Academy) as well as the recent resurgence of the Chelsea Football Club Women's Team. On 10 June 2013, Emenalo requested that his contract be terminated "to facilitate the return of

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...

". but his request was denied. On 6 November 2017, he resigned as technical director of the club, and at the end of that month joined Monaco as its sporting director. On 12 August 2019, Emenalo left Monaco by mutual consent. On 12 July 2023, '' The Athletic'' reported that Emenalo would become the first director of football of the Saudi Pro League.

Honours

Michael Emenalo celebrates winning the Premier League with his Children

Chelsea * Premier League: 2009–10, 2014–15, 2016–17 * FA Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2017–18 * Football League Cup / EFL Cup: 2014–15 * UEFA Champions League: 2011–12 * UEFA Europa League:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emenalo, Michael 1965 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers People from Aba, Abia Boston University alumni Rangers International F.C. players R.W.D.M. Brussels F.C. players R.W.D. Molenbeek (1909) players Boston University Terriers men's soccer players Notts County F.C. players San Jose Earthquakes players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players UE Lleida players La Liga players Major League Soccer players Israeli Premier League players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 King Fahd Cup players Nigeria men's international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football defenders AS Monaco FC non-playing staff