Michael Emenalo (born 14 July 1965) is a Nigerian sports director and former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He is sports director of the

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

. He is the former

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

of Chelsea and

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

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 Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, from 1985 to 1988. He played for Molenbeek in Belgium, In the winter of 1993, Emenalo completed a trial training session at SV Prüm, but a contract was not signed.

Eintracht Trier SV Eintracht-Trier 05 e. V., commonly known as Eintracht Trier (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club was established on 11 March 1948 through the merger of Westmark 05 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 professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

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 Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of 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 w ...

, missing the first game through injury but then, played against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

before Nigeria was knocked out by

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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 Juan Manuel Mata García (born 28 April 1988) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for A-League Men club Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Western Sydney Wanderers. He primarily plays as an attacking ...

, Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, N'Golo Kanté, 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 (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

". 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 ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

'' reported that Emenalo would become the first director of football of the

Personal Life

Emenalo's son, Landon, is currently a member of the Chelsea academy.

Honours

Michael Emenalo celebrates winning the Premier League with his Children

Chelsea *

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

: 2009–10, 2014–15, 2016–17 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2017–18 * Football League Cup / EFL Cup: 2014–15 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2011–12 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

: 2012–13

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emenalo, Michael 1965 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Footballers from Aba, Nigeria 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 Association football technical directors English Football League players 20th-century Nigerian sportsmen Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Abia State