Recent reports from multiple media outlets have confirmed that Todd Boehly, one of Chelsea's owners, is planning to sell his shares. The British publication The Daily Telegraph published an article reviewing Boehly's four years at Chelsea. Below is the full text of that article.

Telegraph Column: "Todd Boehly's Departure from Chelsea Marks the End of One of the Most Bizarre Ownership Stories at a Major Football Club"

Todd Boehly, the chairman who became the public face of the club following the takeover in 2022, is stepping down, leaving behind a trail of bewildering decisions and "nouveau riche" behaviour.

Boehly's era at Chelsea will be remembered for its turbulence and the powerful effect of first impressions. As the representative of a loosely assembled consortium of billionaires, Boehly voluntarily thrust himself into the spotlight, and the British football public never allowed him to "fade into the background". The recency bias—or first impression effect—means that once an initial impression is formed, it is difficult to shake later. The first impression Boehly left on Chelsea fans was vivid and complex. This complexity stemmed both from his lavish spending in the transfer market and from his occasional amateur remarks about football.

It now seems only a matter of time before Boehly and his equal partner Mark Walter sell their respective 12.83% stakes in Chelsea to Clearlake Capital, the consortium's largest shareholder. Based on reports from various media outlets, the deal is already public, and what remains appears to be largely procedural. The third partner in the consortium is 90-year-old Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, and the fate of his 12.83% stake remains unclear. Wyss could stroll down Fulham Road with his pensioner's pass without anyone recognizing him, but Boehly does not have that luxury.

However, Boehly was never actually Chelsea's chief operator—at least not the primary decision-maker—though most people mistakenly believed he was after the failed transfer business in the summer of 2022. Some might say that his performance during that single summer transfer window cemented his place in the public consciousness. In 2022, when he first entered the football world, he held the positions of chairman and interim sporting director. During that time, he signed Raheem Sterling for £50 million and offered him a five-year contract worth £325,000 per week. This deal was later repeatedly cited not only for the fee and wages but because it became emblematic of Boehly's early decision-making style.

Had the contract proceeded normally, it would not yet have expired, but Sterling has essentially ended his career as a top-flight footballer. If his situation this week goes badly, it could be even worse. In other words, the contract remains active, but the player's elite career has already prematurely ended. This mismatch also became one of the most memorable images of Boehly's early tenure.

Returning to Boehly, he once publicly questioned why the Premier League did not have an All-Star Game, demonstrating his status as an "amateur" newcomer to football. While his public statements were often considered out of place, he was once believed to be effectively tackling behind-the-scenes issues, such as addressing Chelsea's primary dilemma—redeveloping Stamford Bridge or finding a new location. Yet four years have passed, and nothing has changed. The stadium question remains unresolved, and the direction is still unclear.

Among the American executives who arrived noisily at the outset and took charge of various matters, including the Stamford Bridge relocation project, only Jason Gannon remains, currently serving as the club's president. Casper Stylsvig, as well as Chris Jurasek and Janet Marie Smith, brought over from the Los Angeles Dodgers by Boehly, have all departed. Whether Chelsea will acquire Earls Court—the last suitable location for a new stadium in West London—remains unresolved, with no meaningful progress on related issues.

The stadium question and team performance are not solely Boehly's responsibility but that of the entire consortium. However, after the summer transfer window of 2022, Boehly's role in Chelsea's day-to-day operations was significantly marginalized, replaced by Behdad Eghbali, the senior partner at Clearlake, who owns 61.5% of the shares and controls the overall situation. All parties insist that any major decision requires signatures from all consortium members, including Boehly, Walter, Wyss, and Eghbali's Clearlake partner Jose Feliciano (who is less involved). They all claim that strategic decisions, including managerial appointments, transfer strategy, and subsequent changes, require consensus.

For most of the past four years, Chelsea has effectively been Eghbali's domain. Last year, before the Club World Cup final, Boehly appeared at the stadium with former U.S. President Donald Trump, which was one of the perks of the chairmanship. However, by that time, relations between Eghbali and Boehly had already deteriorated, and the entire consortium was riddled with undercurrents.

Clearlake Capital's acquisition will end one of the most unusual ownership models of a major club in football. Too many pompous bosses fundamentally struggle to work together. According to Walter, Boehly will make a modest profit from selling his shares, which no one disputes. However, no one believes Boehly originally acquired Chelsea solely for this modest profit. If he simply wanted to make a quick return, he would not have needed to place himself on the most prominent front line of the Premier League.

Last month, Walter sold his NBA team, the Los Angeles Lakers, for £9.2 billion. At the same time, he is under investigation by U.S. prosecutors for alleged financial violations, the scope of which remains unclear. Walter has expressed interest in continuing to invest in sports, but how many opportunities are there to acquire a major club like Chelsea? It was Boehly who orchestrated the 2022 deal by inviting Clearlake Capital to join the acquisition; back in 2019, he had almost led another consortium to acquire Tottenham Hotspur.

Boehly has always wanted to own a Premier League giant. He knew that such top clubs rarely go up for sale, so he needed to leverage Clearlake Capital's private equity funds and, accordingly, invited them to join. However, private equity rarely tolerates poorly managed assets, and Clearlake was unhappy with operations during the first six months after the acquisition. Some even believe this was a premeditated strategy: allow Boehly to attract the initial criticism, then take control themselves.

Today, most well-informed Chelsea supporters know who runs BlueCo—the holding company created by the consortium to manage Chelsea and French club Strasbourg. BlueCo's player trading scale is unprecedented in football. To comply with financial control requirements, it has also sold assets such as the Stamford Bridge hotel and the women's team through intragroup transactions, even incurring UEFA sanctions as a result.

The club claims Boehly was a signatory to all decisions, and we will take that at face value, but whether he was the driving force behind them is debatable. Signing is one thing; actually making the final decision is another. Now that he is stepping down, it seems more like an optimal choice given his current position rather than part of his original ambitious plan.

Переведено ИИ.

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