Former Chelsea boss Michael Emenalo to take charge of Saudi Arabia

Michael Emenalo may be tempted to relocate to the Middle East, as may several well-known players. Photo: Jeff Gilbert for the Telegraph

The former Saudi Arabian Professional League has approached Chelsea's technical director Michael Emenalo to oversee the next phase of their expansion after their heavy recruitment of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.

< p>Emenalo, 57, was targeted as Harry Cook was expected to step down as general manager and return to England at Birmingham City. Emenalo's role will be similar to his at Stamford Bridge, where he has been with him for six years since 2011.

Ronaldo has prompted many players to move from Europe to the Middle East after he agreed to join Al-Nasru in January. , with Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Ruben Neves among others to join Saudi clubs. Sources expect the league to end up focusing on younger players once established stars compete.

Emenalo has Chelsea experience in attracting elite talent, and Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard were brought to the club during his tenure. Several players also left Stamford Bridge and went on to success elsewhere, including Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah.

He spent ten years at Chelsea in various roles before moving to Monaco, where he worked in the Ligue 1 team for a year. . Sources believe he is interested in a role in the Saudi Pro League, although there has been no official announcement.

This will add another link between Chelsea and the Saudi Pro League, who have also signed Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard. Mendy with Kante. Interest was expressed in Romel Lukak and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The current system for adding big names to the Saudi professional league has included clubs submitting requests to the Saudi Ministry of Sports, according to Telegraph Sport. who decides the value of a player before finding him to complete the deal.