The Chelsea ownership saga continues, and it doesn’t sound like it is going to get sorted out anytime soon either with the ownership groups completely split.
It’s a ridiculous situation for Chelsea and for the Blues fan base, who are now really concerned that these issues could spill out onto the pitch and effect results and performances, which is completely feasible by the way.
And the latest report from Sky Sports is absolutely hideous reading for Blues fans.
Ownership standoff
As you can see below, Sky reporter Kaveh Solhekol, neither side has any intention to sell their shares, so where on earth do we go from here and what happens now?
Kaveh says:
‘Todd Boehly is determined to press ahead with plans to buy control of Chelsea even though majority owners Clearlake have no intention of selling their 61.5% stake. Investors have approached Boehly in the past month to offer to provide the funds to buy out Clearlake. They believe their offer would be so compelling it would have to be considered by Clearlake’s investors. The decision on whether to accept or reject any bid would be made by Clearlake co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano. Despite Boehly refusing to take no for an answer, Clearlake are confident they will continue to be Chelsea’s majority owners in the long term and have completely ruled out selling any shares. The Clearlake Boehly consortium bought Chelsea in a £2.5 billion deal in 2022. Not even a significant premium on that price would tempt Clearlake to consider selling their stake. While Boehly is unhappy with the current ownership structure, nothing has been heard yet from other investors such as Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss. Boehly, Walter and Wyss each own just under 13% of Chelsea, which makes up the 38.5% of shares not owned by Clearlake. Boehly has no intention of selling any of his own shares. Chelsea insiders are surprised that differences between the ownership groups – which are now irreconcilable – have entered the public domain. Boehly’s main concerns are about the way the club is being run and the lack of progress over the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge. He also did not want Mauricio Pochettino to lose his job as head coach at the end of last season. The decision to replace Pochettino was taken after co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley’s review of the season. Eghbali, Feliciano and Boehly have sign off on all key decisions. Meanwhile, Chelsea are considering all options for a bigger stadium. No decision has been made yet on whether to redevelop Stamford Bridge or move to a new site. As reported by The Guardian, Chelsea chief executive Jason Gannon has held talks with Transport for London and property developers Delancey about including a football stadium in plans to redevelop Earls Court.
‘Todd Boehly refusing to take no for an answer in battle for Chelsea. Wants to make Clearlake an offer that’s too good to turn down. Clearlake have completely ruled out selling their 61.5%. Boehly won’t sell his 13%. Differences now irreconcilable.’
