Chelsea Target Set-Piece Specialist Austin MacPhee from Aston Villa

Chelsea have opened talks to prise set-piece guru Austin MacPhee away from Aston Villa, targeting one of the most influential backroom figures in the Premier League as Xabi Alonso reshapes his staff at Stamford Bridge.

They are not alone. Rival Premier League clubs and Saudi Pro League sides are also circling, turning the pursuit of a specialist coach into a full-scale tug of war.

The architect behind Villa’s dead-ball edge

MacPhee, 46, has quietly become one of the most sought-after operators in the modern game. His work at Villa Park has been decisive.

During the 2023-24 season, Villa scored more goals from set-pieces than any other side in Europe’s top five leagues, a staggering return that underlined the value of detailed, repeatable work on the training ground. The following campaign, they stayed near the summit again, ranking among the top five across those major leagues and finishing joint-top with Arsenal for set-piece goals in the Premier League last season.

Those numbers do not happen by accident. They are the product of a specialist who has turned corners and free-kicks into a weapon, not a side note.

MacPhee has also balanced club duty with international work. For the past five years he has held a similar role with the Portugal national team under Roberto Martinez. That dual role, combining daily work at Villa with tournament preparation on the international stage, has sharpened his reputation as a meticulous planner with a broad tactical lens.

His contract at Villa includes a release clause, so any club wanting him will have to pay compensation. Given his impact on Unai Emery’s side, that will not be a trivial conversation.

Villa braced for more backroom change

If MacPhee leaves, he will be one of several staff members heading out of Villa Park this summer after a period of remarkable progress under Emery.

Villa’s rise has been built not only on marquee signings and Emery’s in-game management, but on marginal gains. Set-pieces have been central to that. They helped Villa win the Europa Conference League and secure Champions League qualification, achievements that have re-established the club among Europe’s elite.

Losing the man behind such a key competitive edge would sting. Yet this is the reality for clubs who overperform: their best people, on and off the pitch, get targeted.

Alonso’s gap on the Chelsea bench

For Chelsea, the timing is deliberate. Alonso has room in his backroom team, particularly in the specialist area MacPhee dominates.

Bernardo Cueva, the club’s current set-piece coach who arrived from Brentford in 2024 for £750,000, is stepping away from a touchline role into a more behind-the-scenes position. That shift creates a clear vacancy for a visible, hands-on figure to lead Chelsea’s dead-ball work from the technical area and training pitch.

Alonso, a coach obsessed with structure and detail in possession, knows how decisive set-pieces can be in tight Premier League games. Recruiting MacPhee would give him a proven operator in a phase of play that can tilt title races and European pushes.

Familiar traffic between Chelsea and Villa

The pursuit of MacPhee comes against the backdrop of increasingly busy transfer traffic between the two clubs.

Chelsea have just completed the signing of Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa in a deal worth £117m, a statement fee even by Stamford Bridge standards. Heading the other way, Alejandro Garnacho has moved to Villa on an initial loan, with an option to buy that is expected to turn the switch into a permanent transfer.

Now Chelsea are back at Villa’s door, this time for a coach rather than a player.

Set-pieces rarely dominate the headlines in the way blockbuster transfers do. Yet in a season where fine margins will decide Champions League places and domestic trophies, the next big move for Chelsea might not be a forward or a centre-back, but the man drawing arrows on a whiteboard in a quiet meeting room.