Brighton & Hove Albion have confirmed that head of recruitment Sam Jewell has accepted a new position at Chelsea and will begin a fresh chapter in his career.
Jewell has served Brighton faithfully for a considerable period but has now been placed on gardening leave as he transitions into his new role.
With Jewell’s departure, the responsibility baton passes to assistant technical director Mike Cave, who will be supported by George Holmes, the scouting and intelligence manager.
Jewell will take on a global scouting role at Chelsea that will place him in charge of affairs for the Blues and Strasbourg under the same ownership consortium.
He is a highly-touted executive who also had interest from Manchester United. The Red Devils wanted to add him to incoming sporting director Dan Ashworth’s staff.
However, Chelsea have secured his services barely 16 months after acquiring his predecessor Paul Winstanley.
Jewell’s tenure at Brighton saw them make some brilliant acquisitions, which have caught the attention of top clubs seeking to bolster their transfer operations.
This is not the first time Chelsea have looked to poach talents from Brighton. The club took manager Graham Potter and several backroom staff in 2022.
Chelsea have also signed players such as Moises Caicedo, Roberto Sanchez and Marc Cucurella from Brighton’s ranks.
The Blues are eager to bolster their recruitment department and also want to bring in Swansea City’s Josh Marsh as loans manager.
Marsh has previous experience at Huddersfield Town. He will help manage the Blues’ contingent developing away from the spotlight.
He will monitor player development and likely offer insight into which players are performing well enough to enter the first team fold and other key decisions.
