By Frank Dell’Apa / September 6, 2023 /NEW ENGLAND SOCCER JOURNAL
Former Boston University standout Michael Emenalo. (Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)
New England business schools produce success stories by the dozens, sending graduates to firms where they manage accounts valued well into nine or 10 figures, maybe higher.
For Michael Emenalo, Boston University Class of ’89, you’ll have to add another zero or two to get the scale of his latest venture.
As director of football for the Saudi Professional League, Emenalo has played a major role in the acquisition of high-profile players Karim Benzema, Riyad Mahrez, Neymar, et al. The Saudis have been throwing around numbers unheard-of in the sports world, offering Lionel Messi more than $1 billion before he settled on a move to Inter Miami.
They were willing to shell out more than $300 million to Kylian Mbappe, and Emenalo held out hope until recently the deal could be done. That is the financial realm you’re in when you have access to a $777 billion sovereign fund.
Emenalo presents unique qualifications for the position, combining a strong academic background with a professional playing career, plus stints as technical director at Chelsea FC and AS Monaco. Emenalo set himself apart by excelling in the classroom, then at the global level of soccer, both on the playing field and in management.
Along the way Emenalo established contacts, won the confidence of coaches and high-rolling owners, and survived the cutthroat world of high stakes European soccer.
Former BU coach Neil Roberts credits Emenalo’s university experience for much of his success.
“He’s a very bright guy, he can juggle all these things, different personalities,” Roberts said of Emenalo. “Probably more than anything, the education — the type of people he met through education here — wealthy, bright people. And he was a very good student.”
As well as doing deals, Emenalo is a spokesman for the SPL, which has been accused of wildly distorting the market. The Saudi League, Emenalo admits, is “disrupting the industry. But we are disrupting to enhance. We’re adding value to the industry. We have economic power, that’s true. But there is also a sensible, logical, thoughtful process to making the league better.”
In a CNN interview, Emenalo said part of the league’s attraction is “because, part of the competitive beast as a former footballer myself … is the willingness to go and blaze a trail.”
Emenalo, 58, has been trailblazing for a while. Before arriving at BU, Emenalo competed with Enugu Rangers and the Nigerian national team. He only arrived in Boston after Nigeria had been eliminated from World Cup qualifying in July, 1985, according to Roberts.
“He came here straight from World Cup qualifying,” Roberts said of Emenalo. “If they had qualified, he wouldn’t have come. But they lost and he literally snuck out of the hotel and came straight to the States. If they knew, they would probably not have let him have his passport.”
At BU, Emenalo joined former Enugu Rangers Ben and Francis Okaroh in the Terrier lineup. From 1985-88, Emenalo helped BU qualify for the NCAA Tournament three times, totaling 36 goals in four seasons. He also earned a degree in International Relations/Political Science from the Pardee School of Global Studies and was a member of the Scarlet Key honor society.
Emenalo’s playing career took him to seven teams in seven countries, before he entered soccer management with Chelsea FC in 2007, where he worked with some of the game’s top talents, as well as high-profile managers, for 10 years. Then, it was off to AS Monaco for two years.
Such a future would have been difficult to imagine for Emenalo in the ’80s, when player movement was restricted, and there was little demand for African players in Europe. The U.S. provided an option, and Roberts and predecessor Hank Steinbrecher recruited several Nigerians to BU.
“Ten years down the line, (Emenalo) would never have come to States,” Roberts said. “He was such a good player, he would have been a pro in Europe.”
After graduation from BU, Emenalo signed with RWD Molenbeek in Belgium, following a tryout set up by Terrier teammate Peter Verplancke. Then it was on to Eintracht Trier in Germany and Notts County in England. Nigeria finally qualified for the World Cup in 1994, and Emenalo played left back as the Super Eagles won their group, then were eliminated by Italy at Foxboro Stadium.
When MLS started in 1996, Emenalo hoped to play for the New England Revolution, but the team filled its allocated player quota. So Emenalo ended up with the San Jose Clash, competing in the league’s inaugural game, a 1-0 win over D.C. United. Emenalo stayed two seasons in MLS, then went to UE Lleida in Spain and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
Along the way, Emenalo made lasting impressions before retiring after the 2001 season. He worked as an agent, but after a contentious experience involving John Obi Mikel’s transfer to Chelsea in 2006, Emenalo decided to get into coaching. Roberts was about to bring Emenalo back to BU as an assistant, when Emenalo made the improbable leap from working with a youth club in Tucson, Ariz., to Chelsea. Roberts recalled connecting with Emenalo, who surprised him with the news. Roberts said he’d only believe it if Emenalo put Chelsea striker Didier Drogba on the call. The next thing Roberts knew, he was on the line with Drogba, who happened to be sitting next to Emenalo on the team bus on the way to a Champions League match.
It might have seemed a leap for Emenalo to go from coaching youngsters to the Champions League, but at the time he was being recruited by two of his former coaches: Avram Grant (Chelsea) and Juande Ramos (Tottenham). Grant won out, hiring Emenalo as a scout.
After proving himself preparing scouting reports on the opposition, Emenalo replaced Ray Wilkins as Chelsea assistant coach under Carlo Ancelotti in 2010. It was a stepping-stone position for Emenalo, who then was elevated to technical director, having gained the confidence of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. Thrust into a complicated hierarchy, Emenalo displayed an ability to communicate with high-profile managers, the board of directors, and Abramovich. He also negotiated the high-stakes player transfer market, signing 20-year-old Kevin De Bruyne and 21-year-old Mohamed Salah, who ended up making their mark elsewhere.
“He is happiest bringing in young players,” Roberts said of Emenalo. “Chelsea had such a stable of players back in the day, and they sold half of them. But, talking to him, he wanted to build up these kids. The problem was the big-name managers don’t want to take the risk. They don’t want to wait a year. They want to win now and you can’t blame them — they can’t have a bad year. (Jose) Mourinho wanted no part of it.”
At Chelsea, Emenalo worked with Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink, Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo, Rafa Benitez, Antonio Conte and Mourinho, who was fired after clashing with Emenalo in 2015.
While Emenalo was at Chelsea, the Blues won the Champions League (2011); Europa League (2013); plus three FA Cups and three Premier League titles. But after 10 years with Chelsea, Emenalo decided to move on, going to AS Monaco for two years.
Evidence of Emenalo’s belief in young prospects surfaced in Saudi Arabia with the arrival of Gabri Veiga, 21, from Celta Vigo. Veiga had been recruited by SS Napoli, but ended up moving to Al-Ahli on a 40 million pound transfer.
The Saudi league has upset Premier League plans by offering exorbitant salaries to free agents, and also by extending its transfer window. Two weeks into the PL season, the Saudi League was still courting Salah, a $150-plus million transfer target, which could reunite him with Emenalo.
However this phase of the transfer market works out, there will be questions about the SPL’s sustainability. Certainly, there are enough petrodollars in the Public Investment Fund to keep things going, but the flow of funds could be halted should the balance sheet show consistent losses. Also, the quality of play in the SPL is suspect.
Working against the league are climate and an extremely wide gap between the top and mid-range teams. But the Saudis are not going to give up their involvement in the game any time soon, partly motivated by the concept of “sports washing” image manipulation. Last year, they bought in to the Premier League via Newcastle United — there were rumors Emenalo would be involved in management — following the example of neighboring countries Qatar (Paris Saint-Germain) and UAE (Manchester City). They are also bidding for big events, inspired by Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
“(Emenalo) doesn’t want it to be a league for old people to go to get buried,” Roberts said. “That’s his main goal now. When I talked to him, kind of how he put it was, this is the challenge he was looking for. He has everything he needs to try and make it a legitimate league.”