How Cristiano Ronaldo set to Todd Boehly complete Chelsea ’empire’ to rival Manchester City
As a co-owner of the team, Todd Boehly is continuing to demonstrate his dedication to reorganizing Chelsea’s internal and external operations with a sizable new investment.
The Boehly-Clearlake Capital group claimed after their £4.25 billion purchase of the club that at least £1.75 billion in funding will help the club, with Stamford Bridge, the club’s academy, women’s team, Kingsmeadow, and Chelsea foundation all listed.
On top of the £250million he has already spent on transfers for the men’s team, Boehly has paid nearly £50million in compensation to relieve Thomas Tuchel of his duties and bring in Graham Potter and his backroom staff from Brighton. Furthermore, Boehly is still actively involved in finding a new sporting director, sporting advisor and or director of football for the club as well.
In the new owners’ latest move they have identified a possible club to become part of a desired multi-club model run by the owners. In accordance with Manchester City’s own system, which includes running New York FC, Melbourne City, Yokahama Marinos, Girona FC and Mumbai City, Boehly is putting plans in place to create Chelsea’s own empire of clubs.
The first one on the list is Portuguese top division side Portimonense, reports the Evening Standard. In talks with super agent Jorge Mendes – from Portugal – Chelsea have sounded out the team currently fourth in the table as one of their first targets, whilst it is also stated that clubs in Belgium have also been considered, whilst French side Sochaux and Santos – the club where Neymar made his name – have already turned down offers.
By speaking to Mendes, one of the most important agents in world football and responsible for Cristiano Ronaldo, Boehly is using a new contact made over the summer. Mendes and Boehly had discussed the possibility of the 37-year-old joining Chelsea in the transfer window only for Thomas Tuchel to veto any move.
The American co-owner is now trying to establish his own world superpower to rival organisations such as the Red Bull group, which have been pioneers of data-led recruitment in the past decade, to great effect.
Chelsea’s latest move shouldn’t come as any immediate surprise, as Boehly was open in his desire earlier this month, saying at the SALT conference in New York: “We have talked about having a multi-club model, I would love to continue to build out the footprint.
“There are different countries where there are advantages to having a club. Red Bull do a really good job, they have got Leipzig and Salzburg, both of which are playing in the Champions League. They have figured out how to make that work. You have Man City, who have a very big network of clubs.
“Our goal is to ensure pathways for our young stars to get on to the Chelsea pitch while getting them real game time. To do that is through another club in a really competitive league in Europe.”
Other than looking to expand the in-depth scouting network, which is already global, having clubs around the world allows for more control over the development of Chelsea’s players and could also help secure visas for South American players who may be eligible to play in some parts of Europe but not, initially at least, the UK.