Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbhali’s relationship has ‘soured’ with the Chelsea owners ‘exploring their ownership’ of the club, according to reports.
After two decades under the ownership of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, Chelsea were purchased by a Clearlake, Boehly-led consortium for £4.25 billion in 2022.
The club’s new owners have spent over £1 billion on new players since then but success on the pitch has not come as hoped.
Their transfer philosophy has been signing young players, mainly from abroad, on lengthy contracts and incentivised wages.
With such a huge expenditure, the Blues have sold homegrown stars for pure profit to help balance the books and comply with financial rules.
The exits of Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher, to name a couple, have attracted plenty of criticism, with Chelsea quickly losing their identity and ability to win trophies.
Many supporters will be delighted to see another change in ownership only two years into the current regime, and they might get their wish.
According to reports in the United States, Chelsea’s main shareholders, Eghbali and Boehly, ‘are exploring their ownership amid a deterioration in relations’.
Indeed, it is claimed that Boehly and Eghbali ‘are assessing whether they can potentially buy each other out’ as their relationship ‘has deteriorated in recent months’ with the spending not bringing the desired results on the pitch.
There are three main reasons for this: ‘differing opinions on Chelsea’s recruitment policy, the team’s underperformance and the failure to make progress on building a new stadium’.
Clearlake currently have majority ownership of the Premier League giants, with Boehly, US businessman Mark Walter and Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss holding 40 per cent between them.
With Boehly and Eghbali no longer reportedly seeing eye to eye, it is emphasised that they both ‘remain committed to the club and running it in a professional manner’, with both, and Chelsea, declining to comment.
As well as lots of new players coming and going, Chelsea are already on their fourth permanent manager of the Clearlake/Boehly era.
After sacking Thomas Tuchel months following their acquisition of the club, they brought in Graham Potter.
He didn’t last until the end of the season with Frank Lampard being put in temporary charge.
Mauricio Pochettino took charge for 2023/24 and did last the full campaign, ending the season very well but losing his job because Chelsea.
Enzo Maresca is now the man in the dugout, taking charge of a top-flight outfit for the first time in his coaching career.
The Blues have kicked off the Premier League season with a defeat to Manchester City, win at Wolves, and a draw at home to London rivals Crystal Palace.
