Chelsea owner Todd Boehly will ‘reduce his day-to-day involvement in HALF to focus on other business interests’ after a torrid first year that saw him spend £600m on players finishing in the bottom half
- Boehly would only spend 20% of his time working on Chelsea
- This has halved since the first few months after its £4.25billion takeover in 2022
- The American businessman has always planned to reduce his direct involvement
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has reportedly cut his day-to-day involvement at the club in half after suffering a poor season despite spending £600m on new players.
The Blues will end the American businessman in charge’s first season in the bottom half of the Premier League.
Bloomberg report that Boehly now only spends 20% of his time managing the Stamford Bridge club, down from 50% in the months following his takeover in May 2022.
The £4.25billion takeover last year saw a consortium including Boehly and his private equity firm Clearlake Capital take over the management of Chelsea from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who was sanctioned following the invasion of Ukraine by his country.
At first, according to Bloomberg, Boehly spent around half of his time focusing on day-to-day activities at Chelsea.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly reportedly plans to reduce his day-to-day involvement in running the west London club
Chelsea have endured a difficult season and are on track to finish in the lower half league
Unhappy Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge challenge Boehly in a game last month
In January, he stepped down as the club’s interim sporting director and always planned to gradually let go of his responsibilities over time as the executives he appointed settled in.
This will allow Boehly to spend more time on his other business commitments, including the Los Angeles Lakers basketball and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball teams.
He is also co-founder and CEO of Eldridge Industries, the investment firm that backs the owner of Hollywood Reporter and Variety magazines.
Boehly, 49, was happy to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on new players in a bid to ensure Chelsea compete for top honors in England and Europe.
They have paid over £600m in the last two transfer windows signing the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Wesley Fofana, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Marc Cucurella and Raheem Sterling.
But that didn’t translate to success on the pitch in a season that saw Thomas Tuchel and later Graham Potter dismissed as managers.
Chelsea would finish 12th in the Premier League table, which would be their worst season since finishing 14th in 1993-94.
They were beaten by Manchester City in both domestic cup competitions and lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.
It was a baptism of fire in English football for Boehly (right) and his co-owner Behdad Eghbali
Graham Potter was hired and then fired after just a few months following poor results
Interim manager Frank Lampard was unable to create a recovery in Chelsea’s results
Frank Lampard took over as caretaker manager after Potter was sacked, but the results did not improve. Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be Chelsea’s next permanent manager.
Chelsea’s women’s team, however, had a much better season. They will secure another Women’s Super League title this weekend if they beat Reading, having already lifted the FA Cup by beating Manchester United at Wembley.
They fell to Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League semi-final.
Chelsea have decided to freeze season ticket prices for the men’s team for the 12th consecutive year.
A statement accompanying the announcement read: “This season has not produced the results that none of us want.”
“We know what we are working towards, but we also know it will take hard work, determination and commitment.
“We all want to see Chelsea back where we belong and share many more winning moments together at Stamford Bridge.”
