Chelsea will see long-serving manager Henrique Hilario leave the club to join former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel in a new England New Year squad, a report has revealed.
Hilario has spent the better part of 20 years at Chelsea since joining as a substitute goalkeeper under Jose Mourinho in 2006.
He made 39 appearances in eight seasons, half of which came in his debut campaign alone when Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini were injured. The Portuguese remained a member of the squad until his retirement aged 38 in 2014, before returning as manager two years later.
Hilario has worked with seven permanent managers at Stamford Bridge in the last eight and a half seasons and is one of those, Tuchelwill now follow the England setup.
The Telegraph writes that while Chelsea have not publicly commented on Hilario’s departure, his resignation is considered “official” internally. The 49-year-old initially looked to split the roles between Chelsea and England, but his club were not keen on allowing a job-share.
Tuchel’s ‘streamlined’ England staff, which is yet to be fully confirmed, is heavily influenced by the German’s move to Chelsea. Anthony Barry is in place as assistanthaving gained experience in roles with Bayern Munich, Portugal, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland since working with Tuchel in west London. James Melbourne, at Chelsea since 2005, will lead the performance analysis.
But as Hilario leaves Chelseathe Blues are not expected to sign a replacement given the number of other goalkeeping coaches already on the staff. This includes global goalkeeper Ben Roberts and assistant first team/academy head James Russell, while Enzo Maresca brought Michele de Bernadin and Willy Caballero with him from Leicester City in the summer.
