Chelsea have appointed “world-class football leader” Laurence Stewart as technical director.

Stewart, whose task will be to “focus on football globally”, will take up his duties after completing his commitments with French club Monaco, where he has been working in a similar role since June 2020.

He told the club’s official website: “I’m delighted to be joining Chelsea and excited about the vision and direction of the club under the new ownership group.

“I am excited to join them to help them build a world-class global sporting organisation to consistently win on the pitch at the highest levels and provide player pathways to help develop our talent.”

Under new boss Graham Potter, the Blues secured their passage to the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-1 victory at RB Salzburg on Tuesday evening and currently sit in fifth place in the Premier League table.

In a joint statement, chairman Todd Boehly and co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali said: “Laurence is an important appointment as we plan to build a deep sporting team that will collaborate closely.

“Laurence is a world-class football leader who understands talent management, data and scouting, player development and performance.”

Stewart is a former head of performance analysis at Manchester City and senior recruitment co-ordinator at Everton, and worked in a performance analyst role during England’s 2014 World Cup campaign in Brazil.