Only one club spends more than seventy-eight others, this is the reality of European football: in January, Chelsea invested 330 million euros in the transfer market, 72 million euros more than all the teams. Italian, French, German and Spanish championships (258 million euros). This astronomical sum, spent for eight players during a winter transfer window usually more than calm than that of summer, is the hallmark of the new owners of the English club.
The Blues were bought in May from Roman Abramovich for a record sum of nearly 5 billion euros. The Russian businessman, close to the Kremlin, had been under heavy sanctions for several months following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and was forced to sell the club acquired in 2003. A consortium took the head, with the investment company Clearlake Capital as majority shareholder. Todd Boehly, co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball franchise, is one of them and becomes its president.
Since its takeover, the west London club shines more during the transfer window than on the field. While facing Borussia Dortmund in the knockout stages of the Champions League on Wednesday February 15, he has won only one of his last eight games and occupies a modest 9e place in the Premier League. “What happened at Chelsea for a year is completely crazy. Many supporters are still dizzy.explains Liam Twomey, an English journalist who covers Blues news for The Athletic.
The first steps of the new management, in June, do not bode well: several departures have been announced, including that of Marina Granovskaia, a manager whose qualities were unanimously recognized at Chelsea. Just days after the takeover and before the start of the summer transfer window, Todd Boehly temporarily takes over as sporting director, “while he knows nothing about football”regrets an agent who revolves around the club.
Attracting young people to prepare for the future
Chelsea then spent 281 million euros to bring in new players, “but it was hard to see a coherent strategy in what they were doing”, notes Liam Twomey. Then, a few days after the end of the transfer window, Thomas Tuchel was sacked. A decision that the supporters do not understand, who still have the 2021 Champions League in mind, won with the German coach. “We did not have a common vision for the future”will explain Todd Boehly.
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