As per reports Todd Boehly is considering to sell his shares of Chelsea. It has been quiet a long period since Chelsea are always on the headlines. All the time it was about the transfer window or about the performances but this time it is about the ownership.
Todd Boehly along with Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss owns 38% stake of the Chelsea Football Club. Whereas, US private equity firm Clearlake Capital are the majority owners with 62% stake.
They acquired the club from Roman Abramovich in a £4.25 billion deal. Abramovich was a Russian business tycoon who owned the club for almost two decades. Under his ownership Chelsea was risen to become one of the most successful English club. They won many many European and domestic trophies. But he was forced to sell the club by the UK Government because of his Russian backgrounds after the Russia-Ukraine war.
But ever since the new owners have taken over, it was all downhill for the club. In the past few seasons they have spent around £1 billion in the transfer market but failed to achieve any titles or success.
Why the relationship between the owners got worsened?
From the very beginning Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, the co-founder of Clearlake never had a close relationship. This is quiet normal when two big businessmen partners up. They were strictly professional as they wanted to do things on their own way.
Boehly only having 13% stake of the club appeared to be in charge of the club in 2022. Being an inexperienced interim sporting director, Boehly went on a spending spree in the summer of the following season. They even replaced their Champions League winning manager Thomas Tuchel with Graham Potter as head coach.
After all this chaos and mess, Eghbali and Jose Feliciano, the founders of Clearlake have taken over the charge as of now after sidelining Boehly. As Clearlake were not very fond of the decisions of Boehly.
Reports say the relationship between Clearlake and Boehly is beyond to be saved now. The two doesn’t seem like working together any further. It is understood that no talks over buying each other out have taken place yet. But As per the reports of Sky Sports reporter Solhekol, Boehly is considering to sell his shares where Clearlake and Eghbali remains totally committed to the club.
Clearlake is ready to buy all the stakes of the club if the other shareholders wants to sell them. But they will not sell any of theirs as they want full access over the decision making. To get rid of Boehly they would probably persuade Wyss and Walter to sell their stakes to gain more power.
Boehly’s stance on the sitaution
Although the rumors regarding Boehly’s exit, it is clear that he can not be forced out against his will. Boehly has been the public face of the club’s movements ever since the takeover. So, he believes a resolution must be found asap. Boehly can sell out his shares if he receives a compelling offer. But he will still want to lead Chelsea towards a brighter future as he sees this project spanning for 20-30 years.
However, many rumors are also coming out saying Boehly can raise a bid of around £2.5 billion to take full charge of the club. So both parties are interested to buy each other out. All major decisions at Chelsea have been signed off by Boehly and Clearlake. So this situation will be also be discussed before a final decision comes out.
The fans are backing Boehly over Eghbali on social media. They believe Boehly has a sporting background and he is not feared of making big decisions. Boehly has had a sporting success with LA Dodgers in USA and also holds stakes for the NBA giants LA Lakers.
So, from a neutral perspective it would be a big loss for the Blues if Boehly moves on from the club as he had success on paper in different fields. Nothing is certain as of now but it could effect the players and management regarding the ownership environment.
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