Sporting director Stewart to leave Chelsea

[Getty Images] Chelsea sporting director Laurence Stewart is set to leave the club by mutual consent in the near future. The 40-year-old leaves on excellent terms to pursue other opportunities in a move that is internally seen as related to the "tweak of the (recruitment) model" that influential co-owner Behdad Eghbali spoke about at the end of last season. Stewart has spent nearly four years at Chelsea under the BlueCo ownership, but many of his responsibilities will be absorbed into the roles of Joe Shields and Sam Jewell. Shields and Jewell work closely with influential sporting director Paul Winstanley on player identification, negotiations and squad planning. Winstanley also oversees a host of other areas, including medical, player support and other internal operations. Meanwhile, Dave Fallows is part of the sporting leadership in a flexible advisory capacity rather than working within a fixed remit on a day-to-day basis. It is part of the structure around Xabi Alonso, whose arrival sparked further conversations about how to improve both the squad and the way the club operates behind the scenes. The former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen manager has spoken about wanting to be heavily involved in transfer decisions, including playing a role in the decision to sign players aged over 30 such as Jordan Henderson, Danny Welbeck and Emiliano Martinez. There will now be a restructure below director level, with data being better integrated into decision-making and further mid-level appointments made to support the current leadership team. Sources say this restructure is unrelated to Todd Boehly and Mark Walter selling their stakes in Chelsea for £475m each last month.