Sam Jewell has accepted a role with Chelsea, the sporting director's current employers Brighton and Hove Albion have announced.

The 34-year-old is now on gardening leave before he starts in a senior position in Chelsea's recruitment team. Jewell is expected to begin working at Stamford Bridge in November as he serves out his notice period.

So, who is Jewell and why did Chelsea snatch another staff member from Brighton, having also recruited Paul Winstanley last year? Many top clubs, including Manchester United, have been closely following the transfer guru for the past year. He smoothly took over as head of recruitment when Winstanley left 15 months ago.

Jewell comes from a football-loving family. His dad, Paul, played for Wigan and Bradford City before becoming a manager.

But unlike his dad, Jewell didn't become a player. He stopped playing as a young teenager after several trials didn't work out.

In 2011, Jewell started working in football with the HN Sports agency. He brokered deals and looked for young talents that the company could represent.

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After three successful years with the company, he felt he had a lot to offer a football club and wanted to put his skills to the test. Jewell started as an opposition scout for Newport County, then became chief scout for Swindon Town for a short 10-month period.

Brighton noticed his progress and managed to bring Jewell to the Amex Stadium in 2016 as their Under-21 recruitment manager. The enthusiastic transfer expert quickly made his mark with the Seagulls, climbing the ranks to become their emerging talent scout manager in 2018 and then their head of recruitment.

Jewell played a key role in Brighton's recruitment process. The Athletic reported that he was first tasked with exploring the European market, which led to the signing of Sweden international Viktor Gyokeres who is now at Sporting and has been linked with an £87million move to Chelsea.

However, Jewell's real expertise shone through in 2018 when Brighton began scouting South America, a previously untapped market. Together with his recruitment team, Jewell, recently praised as a 'big talent' by Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, identified several prospects.

He played a part in the signings of Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister and Julio Enciso. He also had a hand in the Seagull's recent signing of Valentin Barco from Boca Juniors.

Jewell is known for going above and beyond in his job. He even learned Spanish during the COVID lockdown to talk to South American footballers.

He shared with The Athletic: "I learnt Spanish during lockdown and it has helped me communicate with players when I've been out there and in selling the project to the players' families. Remember, no English is spoken out there, so I'd like to think that speaking Spanish has played a small part in helping the guys join us."

He added: "The only way you're going to attract the top young talent is if they can see a route into the first team, given you're competing against some of the biggest clubs in the world. That's what happened with Alexis, Moises, Facundo and Julio - we could sell them a pathway to the first team relatively quickly."

Chelsea, since Todd Boehly's takeover, are looking at young stars from South America too. They signed Kendry Paez, a young player from Ecuador, who will try to make a big impact in England when he turns 18.

Jewell's great at finding new talent in South America, which makes him a good choice for Chelsea. He has plenty of contacts there and should be able to find good deals that don't cost too much.

Chelsea may have made some mistakes in the past few seasons, but choosing to improve their recruitment strategy could be a brilliant move by Boehly, ensuring that top players can join Mauricio Pochettino's first team without breaking Financial Fair Play rules.