New Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior reacts to Robert Sanchez, Andrey Santos, Liam Delap Stamford Bridge reunions

New Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has spoken highly of three Blues players who he has previously coached at other clubs.

Chelsea are currently preparing to square off against Fulham in the West London derby at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night.

While Under-21s boss Calum McFarlane will take charge of that fixture, Rosenior will officially start work with the squad from Thursday onwards.

Although the 41-year-old is making a significant step up in his managerial career, he has already worked with some members of the Chelsea senior squad.

© Imago

Rosenior excited for reunion with Chelsea trio

During his time at assistant coach with Brighton's Under-23s, Rosenior first met Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

Liam Delap spent the 2023-24 campaign on loan at Hull City, where he scored eight goals in 31 Championship appearances under Rosenior.

Meanwhile, Andrey Santos was Rosenior's star man at Strasbourg last season, producing performances which subsequently led to him being kept at Chelsea for 2025-26.

Speaking to the club's official website, Rosenior said: "I've worked with Liam Delap and had a great time with him. It’s great to see him at this club and that I get to work with him again.

"I've known Rob Sanchez since he was 16 years old at Brighton [when he was] coming through. So, I know Rob very well.

"'Obviously, I had Andrey Santos last year [at Strasbourg]; he's got two beautiful children that he's brought into the world and he had an outstanding performance at Manchester City.

"But what I want to do is to get to know all of them very quickly because I think if you get to know people, you can improve them, and if they improve individually, you improve the collective and you win games."

© Imago / Werner Schmitt

What next for Rosenior?

Rosenior will be in the stands when Chelsea face Fulham - one of his former clubs - on Wednesday night.

He will then have minimal time on the training pitch with his squad courtesy of Chelsea facing Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup third round on Saturday night.

His first game at Stamford Bridge is an EFL Cup semi-final against Arsenal on January 14, before Chelsea host Brentford in the Premier League three days later.