Chelsea are set to appoint Liverpool’s former director of scouting and recruitment David Fallows in a new role – a year after his departure from a long spell at Anfield.
Fallows left Liverpool after 12 years in October 2024, having played a key role in the club’s rise to success under Fenway Sports Group.
He worked closely as part of the transfer staff along with sporting directors Michael Edwards and Julian Ward as well as chief scout Barry Hunter.
But the 45-year-old is now expected to join Chelsea in what appears to be a similar but more expansive role to that which he held for over a decade at Liverpool.
The Telegraph‘s Sam Wallace is among those to report the approach from west London, with Fallows poised to work within a recruitment setup with sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
His duties will cover “scouting and data, player development pathways and loans and football operations,” as well as “recruitment of coaches and staff as well as players.”
There is unlikely to be any frustration at Fallows’ move from those at Liverpool, after he delayed his decision to leave last year in order to aid the transition to a new leadership group involving Edwards, Ward, Hunter and Richard Hughes.
The Premier League champions have effectively replaced Fallows during both an internal reshuffle of roles and the appointment of a number of new officials.
Liverpool’s major staff restructure
Edwards is in place as Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of football while Ward also returned in the role of technical director within the ownership group.
Hughes was appointed as new Liverpool sporting director while David Woodfine – formerly the club’s director of loan management – was rehired as his assistant.
Pedro Marques joined from Benfica as FSG’s director of football development and Hans Leitert was appointed the group’s global head of goalkeeping.
Gary Probert has since joined from Ipswich as head of loan management and Matt Newberry, who had filled the position after stepping up from the academy recruitment team, has been promoted to director of global talent.
Liverpool also brought in two new first-team scouts from Bournemouth in Craig McKee and Mark Burchill, plus former player Stewart Downing in the role of global talent scout.
Kyle Wallbanks, formerly first-team scouting co-ordinator, became global talent scouting manager shortly after Fallows’ departure.
The club also appointed Laurie Shaw, formerly director of football data with the City Football Group, as their new chief scientist in April.
Liverpool won the Premier League, Champions League, Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup and Carabao Cup (twice) during Fallows’ time on Merseyside.
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