“Selling Chelsea again? – Todd Bohely finally speaks out on talks of selling Chelsea
Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly has attacked the media over ‘unrealistic’ reports that he is looking to sell the club. The American businessman bought the Premier League outfit from Roman Abramovich in June 2022, but his reign has since been heavily criticised.
Boehly has spent more than £1billion on players, but Chelsea are yet to win a domestic or European trophy under his tenure. He’s already worked with five different managers at the west London club and has become embroiled in a power struggle with co-owner Behdad Eghbal. The Iranian is the co-founder of US private equity firm Clearlake Capital, and while Boehly possesses 13 per cent of the club, US private equity firm Clearlake Capital are the majority owners with 61.5 per cent.
In a pre-arranged agreement, Boehly will be removed as Chelsea chairman by Clearlake Capital in 2027. However, speculation has been rife that he will share his stake and depart for that having been the subject of protests from fans.
However, the 51-year-old has now hit back on those claims, and insisted everyone is on board with his vision for the club. “What the media writes about is not realistic,” he told Bloomberg UK.
“We’ve been aligned with what we are trying to do and trying to build. The status quo is something that is just fine. We learn from each other. We have to think about long-term what we are trying to accomplish.”
As well as the lavish spending on players, Boehly has also voiced his intentions to redevelop the stadium at Stamford Bridge. The provisional plans propose adding 18,000 to the overall capacity, taking the total up to 60,000.
Boehli, also the co-owner of Ligue 1 club Strasbourg, did concede that the plans to move could effectively end his business partnership with Clearlake. However, he reiterated that reports were exaggerating the scale of any fallout.
“I think that is where we will either align or go different ways,” he added. “But what has been talked about is a lot more drama than what is actually happening.”