Chelsea Confidential: How former Liverpool guru will slot into Blues' leadership team, the plan for Cobham's next big star Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli and what Enzo Maresca's move to Jorge Mendes' agency means

Chelsea 's leadership team will receive a major boost with the arrival of ex- Liverpool recruitment specialist Dave Fallows, who will report to co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

The connected and experienced Englishman is well-known to both Winstanley and Stewart, and one source said they would have been remiss not to look at how he could help after becoming available.

Other clubs are said to have shown interest in hiring Fallows, whose job title at Chelsea has not yet been confirmed, since he left Liverpool after 12 years last October.

Fallows’ arrival will not see Chelsea suddenly divert from their current strategy, which focuses on building a strong sporting structure. That involves leaving the head coach to concentrate on coaching, then identifying young talent worldwide, variable contracts, pre-agreements, et cetera .

Along with Fallows, Chelsea’s leadership team will include hands-on co-owner Behdad Eghbali and Winstanley and Stewart at the helm, as well as co-director of recruitment and talent Joe Shields and director of global recruitment Sam Jewell.

Meanwhile, James Bell-Walker has departed Chelsea after nine years working as a senior international scout. He is now open to other work.

Dave Fallows will join a leadership structure that includes hands-on co-owner Behdad Eghbali (left), plus co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart (centre) and Paul Winstanley (right)

The 15-year-old training with first team

We broke the news this morning that Chelsea have added THIRTY-THREE new youngsters to their Champions League squad overnight , before Wednesday's visit of Ajax. It includes eight 16-year-olds, called up to save time if they want to select them for future games.

But one academy star, now training with the first team, who wasn't called up is a 15-year-old called Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli. Instead, Nicoll-Jazuli started and scored for Chelsea’s Under 19s on Wednesday afternoon in their 6-3 Youth League thumping of Ajax, having become the youngest Blue ever to start in the competition last month.

The record-breaking midfielder made his Under 21s debut last season and does not turn 16 until January. Chelsea believe in rewarding promise and their track record shows that if a youngster is good enough, they will give him the opportunity to impress.

Nicoll-Jazuli was born in Sydney and joined Chelsea at the age of six. He was previously a centre back before converting into a central midfielder.

Sydney-born Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli (right) has been in fine form for Chelsea's youth teams and scored against Ajax in the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday

He is the youngest Blue to start in the youth version of the Champions League, and is already training with the first team at 15

Wigan delegation visit Cobham

Chelsea invited key recruitment staff from League One side Wigan Athletic to visit their Cobham training ground last week to see how the Blues operate behind the scenes, from their scouting operation to loans to their directors’ forward-thinking approach.

The Wigan delegation were grateful for the opportunity to network and learn from their counterparts’ insights.

Long throws? Blues beware

Though they face Ajax first, Chelsea’s analysts have already begun working on the impending visit of high-flying Sunderland in the Premier League.

That includes identifying the visitors’ threat from long throws, as the numbers tell them only Brentford have launched more into the opposition box this season.

In Nordi Mukiele, Sunderland have someone with rockets for arms, though he did receive the odd foul-throw accusation from Wolves during their 2-0 weekend loss at the Stadium of Light.

I would not be surprised if Tosin Adarabioyo starts that game. When Chelsea decided to bring him in on a free, his aerial ability and height was a factor.

Indeed, when 6ft 5in Tosin spoke at the pre-Ajax press conference, he bumped his head on the ceiling as he stood up to leave the podium!

Chelsea fans beware Sunderland defender Nordi Mukiele this weekend - his long throws are a weapon for the Black Cats

Tosin narrowly avoided a nasty injury when he stood up and hit his head on the ceiling at the pre-Ajax presser, and his 6ft 5in frame could prove very handy against Mukiele

Ajax familiarity with Chelsea’s field

If you go on a tour of Stamford Bridge, your guide will tell you all about the pitch while you sit in the dugout.

That includes how the grass is actually Dutch, with Chelsea having noted once upon a time how tonight’s opponents Ajax used a turf which can grow adequately without needing natural sunlight.

Meanwhile, despite Chelsea receiving five red cards in their last six games, bookmakers still have them less likely (10-1) to go a man down than Ajax (8-1) in the Champions League clash.

Sleeve sponsor: sorted. Front of shirt: next up

Chelsea have agreed a shirt-sleeve sponsorship with technology solutions provider FPT until the end of the 2025-26 season.

The Vietnamese firm won a competitive bidding process, but if they want to remain on the Blues’ sleeves after this summer, they will need to win another.

Confidential has been told that multiple companies entered the race, especially after Chelsea were crowned world champions in the United States, and those interested parties are bound to return to the negotiating table when the sleeve is vacant ahead of the 2026-27 campaign. Chelsea already had an existing partnership with FPT before elevating it to a principal collaboration.

The club are also confident they will agree a front-of-shirt sponsor soon enough. They spent the majority of last season without one before Dubai property firm Damac signed up for the final seven games.

They also began the 2023-24 season without one, before Infinite Athlete paid more than £40million to be on the front of shirts from September to the season's end.

Chelsea's Club World Cup victory - without a shirt sponsor - has added to the frenzy around firms wanting to be on the front of their kit

What Maresca’s change of representation means

Sources at the agency Wasserman confirmed to Confidential over the weekend that they will not be representing Enzo Maresca from now on. Instead, Chelsea’s head coach will be repped by the Jorge Mendes stable Gestifute.

Naturally, there will be some wondering why, at a time when Italian newspapers have been linking Maresca with Juventus and others, but Chelsea will not be reading too much into it.

Maresca is contracted until 2029 with the club holding the option to extend the deal to 2030.

As reported previously by Confidential , the Blues boss will be reviewed this summer, and that assessment will be a wide-ranging one. It will not only look at where he finishes in the Premier League, but several areas including how he utilised the squad, rotated minutes, used substitutions, managed players' recovery, and more.