Aston Villa set-piece guru MacPhee joins Chelsea

Highly-rated set-piece coach Austin MacPhee joins Chelsea's pre-season tour in Hong Kong from Aston Villa.

Villa have flourished at set-pieces under MacPhee's guidance Highly rated set-piece coach Austin MacPhee has joined Chelsea's pre-season tour in Hong Kong after moving from Aston Villa. The Scottish coach, 46, joins for an undisclosed release-clause fee in his contract amid competition from other Premier League and Saudi Pro League teams. MacPhee has also been working with the Portugal national team for the past five years under Roberto Martinez, who resigned after the World Cup. MacPhee helped Villa score more goals from set-pieces than any other team in Europe's top five leagues during the 2023-24 season. They followed that by ranking among the top five a season later and finished joint-top with Arsenal in the Premier League last season. New Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has space in his current backroom staff as previous set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva, who joined from Brentford for £750,000 in 2024, is moving away from a touchline role into a more behind-the-scenes position. Chelsea signed Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa for £117m this week, with Alejandro Garnacho moving in the other direction on an initial loan that will likely become permanent through an option to buy. Latest Chelsea news, analysis and fan views Ask about Chelsea - what do you want to know?