A ‘clueless’ Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has conceded he only signed Marc Cucurella because Manchester City wanted him first.
Cucurella joined the Blues from Brighton in 2022 for approximately £62million.
The Spaniard was one of Chelsea’s first signings in the BlueCo era after they bought the club from Roman Abramovich earlier that year.
With BlueCo yet to properly set up their football departments at the time, it meant Boehly, a key member of the consortium, had to moonlight as the Blues’ interim sporting director.
Speaking at the iConnections conference, Boehly admitted it was a trying time for all involved as he attempted to navigate the treacherous transfer market as a complete rookie.
Why Boehly signed Cucurella in 2022
“Finding those right elements, the first time at anything is tricky,” Boehly said.
“So you’re going to make mistakes and obviously having taken over in the circumstances that we did, basically the whole management team left.
“I was stuck being interim sporting director for the summer having no idea what made a good football player.
“But I knew that with Marc Cucurella, if Man City wants him, I want him. It was pretty simple that way.”
Of the players LA Dodgers co-owner Boehly signed in the summer 2022 window for Chelsea, only Cucurella would be considered a home run signing.
How many players that Boehly signed are still at Chelsea?
The Spanish defender is also one of just three players who joined in that period to remain on the Blues’ books, along with Wesley Fofana and goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina.
Raheem Sterling was one of the marquee arrivals having arrived from Manchester City for approximately £48m.
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Who did Todd Boehly sign as Chelsea’s interim sporting director?
Raheem Sterling from Manchester City (£48m)
Wesley Fofana from Leicester City (£70m)
Marc Cucurella from Brighton (£62m)
Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli (£37m)
Carney Chukwuemeka from Aston Villa (£15m)
Cesare Casadei from Inter Milan (£13m)
Gabriel Slonina from Chicago Fire (£8m)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona (£10.5m)
Denis Zakaria from Juventus (£2.6m)
Total spend (per Transfermarkt): £266.1m
However, the forward scored just 19 goals from 81 appearances across all competitions and had his contract terminated in January, allowing him to join Dutch side Feyenoord.
Boehly is no longer heavily involved in transfers, with Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart sharing duties as Chelsea’s co-sporting directors.
Instead, the American serves as the Blues’ chairman while Behdad Eghbali acts as the more public face among the owners, although relations between the two are not perfect.
Despite the money poured into the club by Boehly and co., Chelsea haven’t always struck gold on the pitch.
The Blues finished 12th in the new owners’ first year at the helm and placed sixth in the 2023/24 season.
How much has Chelsea spent under Boehly?
Chelsea then enjoyed their best campaign yet last term as they placed fourth in the Premier League and scooped up two trophies, winning the lucrative Club World Cup along with the Conference League.
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Boehly believed the silverware was just rewards for Chelsea’s transfer strategy which, according to Transfermarkt, has included an expenditure of nearly £1.5billion.
“The reality of it is that you have a plan, you stick to it,” Boehly said.
“When you have new information you pivot and adjust. You’re not shameful about adjusting.
“But you can’t flip-flop. You have to build an infrastructure and a foundation that you can continue to work with.”
