Chelsea head of international scouts Scott McLachlan has left the club after 11 years, it has been revealed.
McLachlan has been at Chelsea for the past 11 years, joining the club from Fulham where he was a technical scout.
The move comes following the end of the summer transfer window, where Chelsea worked effortlessly to rebuild Thomas Tuchel's squad.
Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukuemeka, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Denis Zakaria and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were all brought in to strengthen the first team squad.
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The academy also saw a rebuild with the likes of Omari Hutchinson and Eddie Beach joining, while fellow youngsters Cesare Casadei and Gabriel Slonina have joined.
The new ownership have not just begun to rebuild on the pitch, however, with significant moves happening behind the scenes too.
Former chairman Bruce Buck departed, while Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech, who were heavily involved in transfers with Tuchel, also left their roles.
The Chelsea head coach opened up on his relationship with Cech when discussing Chelsea's search for a sporting director after they beat West Ham on Saturday.
The German said: "I'm not involved in that, I have to say.
"I am so, so happy. I had the feeling for one-and-a-half days, I shifted back to 100% being a coach, which I enjoy a lot and where my full energy will go from now on.
"We need that energy going into the team. It's a very complex situation with sporting directors and which role they have. They are very different in different countries and clubs.
"It's no secret that I loved to work with Petr (Cech).
"The communication and having this kind of legend at Cobham, who took care of not only our building but the academy and the culture of the club, was a pure pleasure for me.
"It's a big change not to have him, and we're still adapting. I am not actively involved in the search or building of a new structure. I'm not so sure it is my job."
There has now been further change behind the scenes, as reported by David Ornstein of The Athletic.
McLachlan, who has headed up the international scouting department at Chelsea, left the club on Friday following the closure of the summer window.
He remains highly respected at Chelsea and the decision to leave was taken on his own terms.
He is set to take up an exec-level role elsewhere in football, now placed on a period of three months gardening leave.
Chelsea must now decide how to best restructure their scouting programme, with a sporting director set to come in before the January transfer window.
Topics: Chelsea, Premier League, Football
Nick Emms