.png)
3 hours ago
6
Not since a doomed foray into the thorny world of the transfer market has Todd Boehly had any real influence over the day-to-day at Chelsea. The American exits football as a diminished figure four years on, along with his fellow investor Mark Walter, and the first thing to say is that little will change in the Stamford Bridge boardroom just because Boehly has left the scene.
Clearlake Capital, the US private equity firm founded by Behdad Eghbali and José E Feliciano, was already the majority owner and guiding force. The trio of Boehly, Walter and the Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss had an equal share of a 38.5% stake but have drifted into irrelevance since the BlueCo consortium bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich for £2.5bn in 2022.
Clearlake, with Eghbali taking a prominent role, called the shots long before Wednesday night’s confirmation that it has full control after buying out Boehly and Walter.
This split has been in the works for a while. It is two years since cracks within the ownership group spilled into public. There was talk of Boehly losing faith in his working relationship with Clearlake. Boehly wanted a resolution. People close to Boehly said he had investors ready to provide capital for a full takeover, although that drew eye-rolling from Clearlake.
Its response was to consider buying Boehly out. Another suggestion from Clearlake was for Boehly to step down as chair and accept changes to governance that would leave the billionaire in little more than a ceremonial role.
No love lost there, then, although there was no immediate sign of movement from either side. A truce followed and Clearlake continued down its path. Eghbali is hugely influential. It is only over the past year that Chelsea fans unhappy with the club’s difficulties in the post-Abramovich era have really started to home in on Clearlake.
Feliciano, who recently became an investor in the Major League Baseball team the San Diego Padres, operates more in the background. Eghbali is more widely seen and was repeatedly targeted with abusive chants by supporters earlier this year.
There was a time when Boehly was the public face of the takeover. Clearlake stood back and watched when Boehly appointed himself interim sporting director after key personnel left in the wake of Abramovich’s departure. How hard could it be? Pretty hard actually. Boehly attracted publicity and was in the limelight. Agents found him personable but wondered whether he knew anything about football.
There was a sense that Boehly’s naivety could be exploited. Chelsea ended up splurging some £300m on a bunch of misfits. The signing of Raheem Sterling on a £325,000-a-week contract became a cautionary tale. Chelsea did not easily shake off the cost of such failures and the sense of chaos grew when Thomas Tuchel was sacked and replaced by Graham Potter at the start of the 2022-23 season.
Boehly has since explained he signed Marc Cucurella from Brighton because he heard that Manchester City wanted the Spain left-back. There is presumably more to thriving as a sporting director than copying your rival’s work.
Boehly had his fingers burned. He became a joke figure, the face of Chelsea’s excess, and made himself unpopular on a wider scale by glibly wondering at a business conference why the Premier League had no All-Star game. Saying Chelsea would beat Real Madrid 3-0 before a Champions League quarter-final in 2023 predictably backfired.
It is said that Boehly’s plan was never to become so involved and he always planned to step aside once experts were in place. Chelsea’s strategy has certainly changed since that first window. They have gone from having one interim sporting director to appointing five permanent ones in Paul Winstanley, Laurence Stewart, Sam Jewell, Joe Shields and Dave Fallows. They have handed out long, incentivised contracts and targeted young players.
Eghbali has driven the vision. It has been a bumpy ride at times. Chelsea have qualified for the Champions League once under this ownership. Managers have come and gone. Clearlake sources say important lessons have been absorbed this year. Last summer’s business was better. Chelsea brought in a serious manager, Xabi Alonso, and signed established talent.
Boehly has stood back and watched. Talk of buyouts went quiet until the summer just gone. The spark, it is said, was Walter seeking to liquidate assets to deal with financial issues in the US. The writing was on the wall when he sold his LA Lakers stake.
Boehly and Walter are said to have made a modest profit on their investment in Chelsea. Jonathan Goldstein, a Boehly ally, has also left the board. Wyss has invested in a Clearlake vehicle and has not left the building.
Little will change. Day-to-day operations, leadership and strategy remain the same. The big issue is the stadium question. The exit of Boehly and Walter could lead to movement.
The Guardian first reported in September 2024 that Chelsea were in talks over leaving Stamford Bridge for Earls Court. The Earls Court Development Committee’s separate proposal for the site has not progressed since receiving planning permission. Chelsea’s interest remains, although they have not ruled out finding a way to make the more complicated plan of redeveloping Stamford Bridge work.
Whatever happens will take place without Boehly. Eghbali and Feliciano said in their statement that Boehly “will always be a part of the Chelsea story and family”.
That was a generous take.
