Chelsea staff member 'secretly' leaves the club after £21m mistake

Bruno Saltor has secretly left Chelsea less than four months after the club announced he would work as part of Mauricio Pochettino’s coaching staff, it has been claimed.

While Chelsea have not confirmed the details of Saltor’s departure, the Telegraph allege that the Blues have paid up the 42-year-old’s contract.

The former Brighton defender’s exit has not officially been communicated by Chelsea, with the club reportedly having opted against making a public announcement.

In turn, only two members of the team who joined Chelsea from the Seagulls with Graham Potter remain at the club - head of goalkeeping Ben Roberts and data analyst Kyle Macaulay.

Chelsea paid an alleged world record £21million to hire Potter and his staff from Brighton over a year ago, upon the departure of Thomas Tuchel.

However, the Blues have now paid up Potter and three members of his staff - Billy Reid, Bjorn Hamberg and Saltor.

Upon sacking Potter after just seven months in charge, Chelsea made Saltor take charge of a home encounter against Liverpool, which the club drew.

However, upon Frank Lampard’s arrival, Saltor was effectively put on leave, with the new interim boss having brought in his own coaching staff.

Lampard’s ill-fated second spell as Blues boss ended upon the season’s close, with Pochettino officially taking over at Chelsea at the start of July.

While the Argentine brought his own trusted coaching staff with him, the club announced at the time that Saltor would stay as part of his backroom team.

That arrangement, however, appears to have lasted less than four months.

Chelsea have endured another torrid start to the season, having claimed just one win from their first six Premier League games and failed to score in their last three encounters.

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Topics: Football, Chelsea, Graham Potter, Premier League, Mauricio Pochettino

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.