Liam Rosenior’s in-tray as Chelsea’s new head coach is a big one for this season, but he may have one other problem to solve come the summer.
Rosenior was appointed as the new Blues boss on Tuesday morning, signing a contract until 2031 with an option for a further year.
He joins the west London side from French outfit Strasbourg – with the two clubs both under the BlueCo ownership umbrella. The 41-year-old will bring his two assistants Kalifa Cisse and Justin Walker too.
The relationship between the clubs has seen many players, and now staff, hop across the English Channel – with both Julio Enciso and Ben Chilwell swapping Stamford Bridge for the Stade de la Meinau last summer alone.
And while Rosenior will be focusing on his second game in charge, Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg tie with Arsenal, there could be trouble on the horizon after this season.
Emmanuel Emegha will be following Rosenior’s path in the summer after it was announced in September that Chelsea had agreed a deal with sister club Strasbourg for their captain.
The 22-year-old had scored seven goals in 11 appearances under Rosenior in all competitions this campaign, alongside two assists.
Liam Rosenior and Emmanuel Emegha’s reported issues
And while those figures are impressive, according to reports in France the relationship between player and head coach was not plain sailing.
On November 30, Strasbourg lost 2-1 at home to Brest in Ligue 1, with Emegha coming on as a 69th-minute substitute.
According to reports in France, the Netherlands international was unhappy at not starting and his behaviour led him to being hit with a one-game internal club ban – missing their 1-0 defeat at Toulouse on December 6.
In a statement at the time Strasbourg said Emegha had failed to ‘respect the values and expectations set in the club’s rules’.
Reflecting on his ban, Emegha took to social media to vow to do better: ‘I’m 22, I’ve made mistakes and I know that I have much to learn. And I must learn from this. I know that I must do better, and I will, on and off the pitch to represent the club.’
He continued with it by stating that he had an open and detailed discussion with Strasbourg president Marc Keller about it all: ‘He [Keller] knows how much I love this club and how much I work every day. I also extend my thanks to my team-mates, the staff, head coach Liam Rosenior and sporting director David Weir and everyone associated with the team.’
At the time, French publication L’Equipe claimed some of Emegha’s remarks prior to that alleged spat with Rosenior had not gone down well either.
He told Dutch media he didn’t know where Strasbourg was before his 2023 move from Sturm Graz, saying: ‘I thought it was in Germany, but it turned out to be in France. Well, I think everyone knows Strasbourg now.’
After scoring a brace in a 2-0 win over Lille in November too, he suggested Strasbourg’s prior poor results was due to his injured absence.
‘Against Monaco (3-2 defeat in August), I was not there,’ he said. ‘Against PSG (3-3 draw in October), I was not there. Against Lille? That’s it.’
