Chelsea Targets Set-Piece Specialist Austin MacPhee from Aston Villa

Chelsea have opened talks to prise highly rated set-piece specialist Austin MacPhee away from Aston Villa, as a clutch of Premier League rivals and Saudi Pro League clubs try to muscle in on the deal.

Villa are entitled to compensation, with MacPhee’s contract understood to contain a release clause that any suitor will have to trigger. That detail underlines his value. So do the numbers.

Across the 2023-24 campaign, Villa scored more goals from set-pieces than any other side in Europe’s top five leagues, turning dead-ball situations into a weekly weapon. They backed that up the following season by again sitting among the continent’s elite from corners and free-kicks, and finished last term joint-top with Arsenal for set-piece goals in the Premier League.

Those routines did not appear by accident. They were drilled, refined and rehearsed under MacPhee’s eye.

The 46-year-old Scot has quietly built a formidable reputation. For the past five years he has balanced his Villa duties with a role on the Portugal national team staff, working under Roberto Martinez until the coach’s resignation after the World Cup. That dual workload has placed him at the heart of two high-level operations, one club, one country, both heavily invested in marginal gains.

His departure would mark another significant change in Unai Emery’s backroom structure. Villa are braced for several staff exits this summer, even as they celebrate a period that has delivered the Europa Conference League trophy and a return to the Champions League. MacPhee’s fingerprints are all over that rise; Villa’s threat from corners and free-kicks often tilted tight games in their favour.

Chelsea sense an opportunity.

New head coach Xabi Alonso has room to reshape his support team, with previous set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva stepping away from a touchline role and into a more analytical, behind-the-scenes position. That shift has opened a clear lane for a specialist who is comfortable operating at the very top of the game.

MacPhee fits the profile: proven at Premier League level, versed in European competition, and accustomed to working with international stars in high-pressure environments. It is exactly the kind of niche expertise modern super-clubs are prepared to pay for.

Chelsea’s interest comes in the same week they completed a major piece of business with Villa on the playing side. Morgan Rogers has arrived at Stamford Bridge in a £117m move, while Alejandro Garnacho has gone the other way on an initial loan that is expected to become permanent via an option to buy. The two clubs are already deep in negotiation mode; now the conversation extends from the pitch to the technical area.

Whether Chelsea can fend off rival Premier League outfits and the financial muscle of Saudi Arabia will depend on how quickly they move and how persuasive their project appears to a coach whose work is suddenly in high demand.

For a club trying to squeeze every advantage out of a new era under Alonso, can they afford to let one of Europe’s most influential set-piece minds slip away to a direct competitor?