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[TheHulk 2,482]

 

[TheHulk 2,482]

 

[Vesper 30,226]

Fears of civil war at Chelsea as Todd Boehly’s relationship with Clearlake reaches breaking point

Exclusive: Boehly confident he can raise sufficient capital – more than £2.5bn – for takeover bid but Clearlake adamant it will not sell

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/09/07/civil-war-fears-Chelsea-boehly-relationship-clearlake-brink/

Matt Law, Football News Correspondent

7 September 2024 • 1:17pm

 

Todd Boehly believes his working relationship with Chelsea co-owners Clearlake Capital is at breaking point and that a resolution must be found to avoid a Stamford Bridge civil war.

 

Clearlake and Boehly are prepared to buy each other out, with Boehly and his partners said to have the available resources to fund a full takeover. Clearlake have insisted they will not sell any shares.

 

Behdad Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano own Clearlake and are co-owners of Chelsea with Boehly, the American billionaire, who also has a stake in the LA Dodgers.

 

As reported by Telegraph Sport, Clearlake are adamant they will not sell any of their 61.5 per cent stake and will not allow Chelsea to go up for auction again – just over two years since Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the club.

 

It has now emerged that Boehly believes he can quickly raise over £2.5 billion to make an offer to Clearlake that would also give Chelsea’s majority shareholder a profit on their initial investment

 

Investors are said to be ready to back Boehly, who is believed to have a 20 to 30-year vision in Chelsea, which would include a new stadium.

 

But an offer, however big, could fall on deaf ears if Clearlake maintain their not-for-sale stance.

 

Clearlake view their investment in Chelsea as a decade-plus commitment and want to increase their stake, while Boehly sees his involvement as lasting up to three decades.

 

Following a cultural divide opening up between Chelsea’s owners, Boehly has come to the conclusion that the current structure has become untenable and that a resolution needs to be found as quickly as possible.

 

Boehly’s side of the club owns 38.5 per cent that is split equally between himself, Hansjorg Wyss and Mark Walter, who have invested around £1 billion of their own money.

 

There is said to be no prospect of Boehly selling his stake on its own to Eghbali and Feliciano, which means Clearlake would also have to buy out Wyss and Walter at a total cost of more than £1.5 billion, accounting for each man making a profit.

 

As part of their contract of co-ownership, Clearlake and Boehly both have matching rights and blocking options if either side puts their stake in Chelsea up for sale or attempts to sell to a third party.

 

While there have been claims that the relationship between Boehly and Clearlake remains professional, there are irreconcilable differences in opinion over the direction of travel and culture of the club.

 

Should nothing change, then there is an increasing sense that a civil war could break out that could be incredibly damaging for Chelsea on and off the pitch.

 

While Boehly’s plan is said to have been to spend the first year of ownership putting a team in place to run Chelsea before stepping back from the day-to-day management, Eghbali has preferred a more hands-on approach over the past 18 months and works closely with sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

 

There have been constant changes to the management structure since the Boehly-Clearlake takeover, with former chief executive Chris Jurasek, who has worked for Clearlake for the past 10 years, becoming the latest high-profile departure.

 

All major decisions have to be signed off by Eghbali, Feliciano and Boehly, which possibly explains why there has been no significant progress on the plans for Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium.

 

As revealed by Telegraph Sport in March, Chelsea’s owners can pass the chairmanship, which is currently held by Boehly, between them every five years as part of an extraordinary written agreement.

 

Clearlake intend to nominate their own representative to take the chairmanship at the earliest opportunity in 2027, but it now seems certain that the ownership structure will change before then.

 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

2 hours ago, IMissEden said:

There is no improvement vs prior to takeover. They have instilled nothing but instability. Boehly first year handling transfers with 0 sporting director instilled by Clearlake is no stain of his cleared up by Eghbali and his people. I think you’re genuinely misinformed or confused lol 

Under Boehly the 1 billion in money promised was being blown through with nothing to show but severely over paid players that flopped. He was also in no hurry to set up the core people to run the club. All the people that are running the club currently were set up by Eghbali.

Please do point out what structure Boehly put in place

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

One thing that is for sure. Having owner partners trying to assume complete control and neither side wanting to sell out. Stability is not happening soon. This drama is a bit much

[Vesper 30,226]

45 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

One thing that is for sure. Having owner partners trying to assume complete control and neither side wanting to sell out. Stability is not happening soon. This drama is a bit much

[IMissEden 21]

This is the fatal blow that finishes CFC off. Simple. Will come back to this. Learn to identify parasites in business, politics, upper stages. It’s not exactly hard. 

[TheHulk 2,482]

12 minutes ago, IMissEden said:

This is the fatal blow that finishes CFC off. Simple. Will come back to this. Learn to identify parasites in business, politics, upper stages. It’s not exactly hard. 

Dude stop trolling.

[IMissEden 21]

Daniel Finkelstein needs to go, whoever he follows. Have finally read some of his content given he comes from a way bigger background than I realised. He refers to himself and his wife as, the highest quality people, struggling to find anywhere of quality matching them. He wrote that a few months ago in reviewing one of the best destinations on earth. Watch some of his shit. How the hell is he going under the radar. He’s not doing Nothing at CFC. All the 2+2s suggest he has absolutely no business being here or in football. Pretending to be some travel tourist with no regard for responsible tourism — doing a write up this year about a place at the seems — to get himself %s off the trip. Just horrible type of operating 
 

 

Edited September 7, 2024 by IMissEden

[Fulham Broadway 17,333]

The working relationship between the most important people at Chelsea is understood to have broken down beyond repair.

Boehly believes he can get together more than £2.5billion in order to buy out Clearlake’s Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano. He is determined to see through his long-term plans for Chelsea, which include building a new stadium, and wants rid of his fellow investors

Torygraph

[IMissEden 21]

2 hours ago, TheHulk said:

Dude stop trolling.

Wanna see me posting 2.5 years ago Reddit, dated, proof, that we’d become the next Arsenal going, we aren’t winning but the youth are playing!, to falling into mid table mediocrity. It also includes the little tidy info that Mount would end up at Utd. Would you like to see dated receipts of when I was watching Neymar before either of us hit puberty, or the agent I did a deal with this week. I know what I’m talking about, you literally don’t, I’ve read what you have to say on this. Learn to learn and respect some points. You’re speculating, I’m not. I know how things work at this level. 

Edited September 7, 2024 by IMissEden

[Vesper 30,226]

2 hours ago, IMissEden said:

Wanna see me posting 2.5 years ago Reddit, dated, proof, that we’d become the next Arsenal going, we aren’t winning but the youth are playing!, to falling into mid table mediocrity. It also includes the little tidy info that Mount would end up at Utd. Would you like to see dated receipts of when I was watching Neymar before either of us hit puberty, or the agent I did a deal with this week. I know what I’m talking about, you literally don’t, I’ve read what you have to say on this. Learn to learn and respect some points. You’re speculating, I’m not. I know how things work at this level. 

yes, post it all

show the receipts

[iceboy 1,019]

I hope Todd wins this out. He is experienced with Dodgers, Eghbali co are more about financial. IDK the club is a little bit mess, there is no stability etc.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

Everything feels so reactive. Bohely was a dumb fat yank who didnt know anything about the sport just 2 weeks ago.....now we trust him?😂

 

and now without clearlake he is going to turn us into the Dodgers? This genius strategy of what? Buying the best players from other teams for massive money, and spreading it out over many years? Isnt that what we've been doing under clearlake? I mean if we are just going to do it the Dodgers way then hell, I could do that. Buy Haaland, Rodri, Son, and Raya. Give them long ass deals. There, we've did it the Dodgers way.

 

Buying Hernandez, Betts, and Freddie Fucking Freeman before splashing on Ohtani isnt quite rocket science. Its just having unlimited funds, and an insanely large market that views the Dodgers as America's team.

[DH1988 1,349]

I've said here before that I think we'd all for the most part have made mistakes taking over a winning machine, some I'll advisors whispering initially. I lump both groups together in that, Todd was just the face, but he's the fan, gun to my head, I'd lump for Todd over Eg. It seems good that both parties want it sorted quickly, understandably sound and they are money men, if legally they can make a good profit, great. We need the stadium as well and it seems to have stalled completely since we agreed the pensioners housing buyout.

[DDA 9,943]

Is it possible they are all cunts and we would be better off without any of them?

Give me a Saudi Prince any day !

[TheHulk 2,482]

Wanting to keep one of the biggest losers in the sport, sell the shares to Clearlake dude.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

Remember when Boehly was being advised on club matters by James Corden….James fucking Corden! 

[DDA 9,943]

3 minutes ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

Remember when Boehly was being advised on club matters by James Corden….James fucking Corden! 

You actually believe that?

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

1 minute ago, DDA said:

You actually believe that?