Just four years after his contract termination request was rejected, Michael Emenalo used another avenue to leave Chelsea, bringing the curtains down after ten years of service. In 2014, Emenalo made a formal request for his contract to be terminated to facilitate Jose Mourinho's return, but the club never granted him the wish.
The former Nigerian international waited after Chelsea's landmark victory over Manchester United on Sunday to make his resignation. Emenalo joined Chelsea in 2007-just after Jose Mourinho's sacking. Emenalo has served the West Londoners in three capacities namely; chief scout, assistant manager, and Technical Director.
He now leaves a big void just when the club is heading toward the January transfer window where the Blues should make critical signings.
Not fans' favorite
It still baffles many Chelsea supporters how Michael Emenalo landed big opportunities at Stamford Bridge despite not playing for the London club. The biggest club that Emenalo ever represented in Europe was Maccabi Tel Aviv, and it's conceivable that it was in Israel where he got into contact with Avram Grant. Emenalo joined Chelsea during Grant's era and rose from chief scout to technical director of one of the most decorated club London.
Most Chelsea fans have never hidden their dislike for Emenalo from the time he joined the club. In fact, the fans haven't appreciated the contribution the former Nigerian international brought at the team.
Among the things that the fans developed, the penchant of hating him are his qualifications and his rapid elevation to higher ranks.
Chelsea's faithful have always blamed Emenalo for the club's silence in transfer market activities. Many fans have mistaken the role of Emenalo to be signing new players, but in actual sense, the duty of the former Notts County defender had been to identify talents.
Also, the fans got angry with Emenalo when he referred to Chelsea's most decorated manager as 'the individual' in a TV interview in December.
The departure of Emenalo is set to lay bare the difference that Chelsea manager has with the club director, Marino Granovskaia. Antonio Conte's office at Cobham (Chelsea training ground) is in the same corridor where the office of Emenalo used to be, and the two used to meet on a daily basis.
Granovskaia, who has rarely traveled from his cozy office at Stamford Bridge, could take up Emenalo duty tentatively. In fact, whenever Granovskaia and Roman Abramovic visited the training ground, the media has been ripe with speculation on the existing manager's future.
Emenalo's achievements at Chelsea
Even though Chelsea fans have never given credit to Emenalo for the success that the youth team has recorded, the Nigerian deserves it. After Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Manchester United, Emenalo was seen patting Andreas Christensen for keeping the hungrier Red Devils strikers at bay throughout the contest. The Dane defender is one of the players Emenalo brought at the club and have risen from the academy and now plays for the senior team.
The climax of Emenalo's success will be witnessed on Friday when England will be playing a friendly match against Germany. The game will feature Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who are both the product of Chelsea academy that Emenalo identified.
