Chelsea first-team fitness coach Will Tullett has confirmed his decision to leave Chelsea after 21 years, and join the Saudi Pro League as their new “Director of Fitness”, a role in which he will work with every club in the league. He’s the third ex-Chelsea staff member to take a prominent role in the SPL, joining our former sporting director Michael Emenalo (currently the SPL’s “Director of Football”) and our former head of sports science and psychology Tim Harkness (currently the SPL’s “Head of Sporting Affairs”).

Tullett, who was often seen in club media taking players through their paces at training, was elevated to this first-team fitness coach role by Frank Lampard in 2019. Prior to that, he worked mostly in the Academy as well as the sport science department.

While Tullett’s departure was only confirmed now, Enzo Maresca did bring his own fitness coach along, Marcos Álvarez, and he has taken over that role. Álvarez, who also worked with Maresca at Leicester City and Parma, and has extensive prior experience as well including at Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur (both with Juande Ramos), made a few headlines this summer for re-introducing a stricter diet for the squad.

In any case, thanks for everything, Will, and good luck in the new job!

After 21 years I made the decision to move on from Chelsea to a new challenge and adventure both personally and professionally.

I feel incredibly lucky to be able to make this decision independently to bring my time with the club to an end. As I reflect, what a time it has been! To work across medical, physical and coaching groups at every level from U8 to Men’s First Team has been a joy. Within this time to be up close and personal to see team success in nearly every youth and subsequently senior trophy possible is an honour and to perhaps have played some small part fills me with a lot of pride. But the time to move was right.

I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Director of Fitness at Saudi Pro League (SPL)! An exciting challenge that I can’t wait to experience.

To those I’ve worked with, thank you, may our paths cross again. And to those I will encounter, I can’t wait to do great things together!

-Will Tullett; source: LinkedIn