Advice to Tuchel, speeches in the locker room…
The reason? It’s practically open war between Todd Boehly, a takeover figure, and his partners at Clearlake, the investment company owned by Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano.
After spending €1.384 billion on the transfer market since their arrival, the two parties have very contradictory visions regarding the management of their team. According to The Guardianthey would both even look for ways to buy out each other’s shares. Clearlake owns 61.5% of the club. Boehly, together with Mark Walter and Hansjörg Wyss, owns the remaining 38.5%.
The question is whether Boehly has the ability to find investors willing to put up the €3 billion needed to buy back Clearlake’s shares or whether he is trying to keep up appearances before selling and exiting himself.
In any case, he would regret having entrusted the day-to-day affairs of Chelsea to Eghbali. If he does not question his financial expertise, he would consider that his partner’s knowledge of football is more than limited. The Boehly camp would even accuse Eghbali of having made a bad impression on Thomas Tuchel, by suggesting to the German… to adopt a 4-3-3. On the Clearlake side, we do not forget that Boehly himself went down to the locker room to make speeches or that he led a catastrophic first transfer window.
The break: the dismissal of Pochettino
Everyone would have agreed to thank Tuchel, while the fates of Graham Potter (chosen by Boehly and fired after seven months) or Mauricio Pochettino are subjects to avoid. When Boehly would have wanted to play the patience card by keeping the Argentinian on the bench, Eghbali, whose influence on the sporting level continues to grow, would have pushed for his dismissal. An episode that would constitute the breaking point.
For Clearlake, who would have no intention of selling and regrets being portrayed as a group “ignorant Americans”the resolution would involve a step aside from Boehly: either he sells or he steps down as president (and loses his power). On Boehly’s side, sources reportedly believe that Clearlake is trying to “drive out of London”.
We must not forget that the stadium file is still on the table at Chelsea, which does not make this period of instability any easier. The Blues want to build a new venue at Earl’s Court, but the process is dragging. So much so that a renovation of Stamford Bridge could be an alternative.
In short, everyone points the finger at the other. But at least everyone supports Maresca, for now.
