Chelsea Pursues Aston Villa Set-Piece Specialist Austin MacPhee

Chelsea have opened talks to bring Aston Villa’s renowned set-piece specialist Austin MacPhee to Stamford Bridge, as Xabi Alonso looks to sharpen the fine details of his new regime. They are not alone in the chase. Other Premier League clubs and sides from the Saudi Pro League have also moved for the 46-year-old, turning a backroom appointment into a fully fledged tug of war.

MacPhee is under contract at Villa Park and any move will require compensation, with his deal understood to contain a defined release clause. Villa are braced for approaches after another season in which their dead-ball work set the standard across Europe.

Under MacPhee, Villa became a set-piece machine. In 2023-24 they scored more goals from dead-ball situations than any other club in Europe’s top five leagues, a staggering return for a side still rebuilding its reputation. They backed that up the following campaign by again ranking among the continent’s elite and finishing joint-top with Arsenal for set-piece goals in the Premier League last season.

Those routines have not been a sideshow. They have underpinned Unai Emery’s surge, helping Villa win the Europa Conference League and secure a place in the Champions League. MacPhee has been central to that rise, one of the most influential members of Emery’s staff, and his departure would mark another significant change in a summer of turnover at Villa Park.

His work has stretched beyond club football. For the past five years, the Scottish coach has combined his Villa duties with a similar role for the Portugal national team, operating under Roberto Martinez. That dual workload has enhanced his reputation as one of the most meticulous and innovative set-piece minds in the game.

Chelsea see an opening. Alonso’s backroom structure still has space after Bernardo Cueva, the club’s previous set-piece coach, stepped away from a touchline role. Cueva, recruited from Brentford in 2024 for £750,000, is transitioning into a more behind-the-scenes position, leaving a clear vacancy for a specialist who can own the dead-ball department on matchdays.

The timing of Chelsea’s move for MacPhee is no coincidence. The club have already completed one major piece of business with Villa this week, signing Morgan Rogers for £117m, with Alejandro Garnacho heading in the opposite direction on an initial loan that is expected to become permanent via an option to buy. The relationship between the two clubs has rarely been more active.

Set-pieces are no longer treated as a niche concern at the top level; they are a battleground where points, trophies and Champions League places are won. Chelsea, still rebuilding their identity and searching for marginal gains under Alonso, know exactly what Villa have gained from MacPhee’s expertise.

Now the question is whether they can prise him away from a Champions League club that has built so much of its recent success on his whiteboard.