Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Mark Walter are currently in discussions with majority owners Clearlake Capital to sell more of their shares to the American private equity and investment firm.
Boehly and Walter hold a 12.5 per cent stake in the club, while Clearlake owns 61.5 per cent.
Clearlake Capital’s frontmen Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano already run the club, but should these talks progress and be finalised, they’ll be in a position of full control.
Alignment, or the parting of ways
“We have to think long term about what we’re trying to accomplish,” Boehly told Bloomberg in an interview, quoted on Sky Sports.
“We have a big stadium development opportunity that we have to flesh out.
“That’s going to be where we’re either aligned, or we ultimately decide to go different ways.”
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Disagreements among the ownership
Boehly was reportedly in disagreement with Clearlake over the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino in May 2024, prompting ongoing tension since then over the direction the club is going in.
Hot water for a while
“It’s been a very uneasy alliance, almost from the get-go,” the Daily Mail’s Riath Al-Samarrai told Sky Sports News’ Paper Talk.
“There have been some pretty notable sort of differences in opinion. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I always go back to one of the sort of turning points: Pochettino leaving.
“All the information we had was that Boehly wanted him to stay, but Clearlake were on the other side of that, and that’s a fairly sort of big one for an ownership group not to agree on.
“I actually think this will be a positive thing for Chelsea. I’m not necessarily sure either of them are particularly loved, but if he goes, then it creates maybe a little bit of clarity behind the scenes.
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Sooner than expected
“But this is still contingent on Clearlake stumping up the money for him to accept,” Al-Samarrai added.
“We know as well that his real kind of control of the club, the chairmanship, is going to expire next summer.
“There was always that thought in the background that that would be a point when there might be a natural parting of the ways, but it appears to be coming a little bit sooner.”
Investment vs results
Chelsea, who have found themselves recycling managers since the Clearlake-Boehly consortium took over the club, appointed Xabi Alonso at the end of last season.
Alonso has been gifted £280m for 12 new signings in this transfer window, but it remains to be seen whether Clearlake Capital’s leadership results in two core returns on investment: wins and trophies.
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