West Brom head of scouting Jeremy Leyde leaves Baggies to join Chelsea
West Brom head of scouting Jeremy Leyde has left the Baggies to join Chelsea, where he has been recruited as the Blues’ position specific scouting manager, according to TheSecretScout.
The Twitter source, followed by David Ornstein and Fabrizio Romano, shared on September 29 that Leyde will link up with the Blues’ sporting director Paul Winstanley after the two worked together during their time at Brighton.
Leyde has seemingly confirmed the news himself with a change to his LinkedIn page. This is likely to see some change at backroom level, with a key member of the team leaving, and West Brom will be looking for a new head of scouting.
Losing a key backroom member
Leyde was a very important part of the scouting team at West Brom and was highly valued for the role he played in heading the team. The fact he has been poached by Chelsea shows the respect he holds in football, and he will now need replacing at The Hawthorns.
Having backroom staff taken away by the world’s biggest clubs won’t be a positive feeling, but it’s one that’s almost unavoidable. If a club like Chelsea come calling, it’s a sign that your recruitment in terms of staff is right, but it’s difficult to keep hold of them.
At a time when there is expected to be plenty of movement behind the scenes at West Brom, there will now need to be more in the scouting department.
Interestingly, the Baggies’ managing director Mark Miles had recently played down the role of Leyde, putting more of an emphasis on the recruitment team they have assembled at The Hawthorns, saying: “We have a recruitment team, Jeremy Leyde heads that. Jeremy picks up the head of recruitment side, but it is a team.
“It’s very much an analytical team that looks at software now, once they’re identified we then go and watch them.” [Birmingham Live, 2 August].
In other West Brom news, key players have been back in training ahead of the Preston clash.