US investor lays claim to Boehly as Chelsea takeover draws closer

Clearlake Capital will have a say in the proceedings and plans impacting Chelsea once Todd Boehly becomes the new owner.

This is according to sources at Athleticismwhich suggest that many major findings will come through which company is expected to become the club’s majority shareholder.

Boehly becomes a Blue

While Boehly is very much the face of the team replacing Roman Abramovich at Stamford Bridge, there are even bigger forces working behind the scenes.

Clearlake would own 60% “in the region” of Chelsea, which means they will have access to important decisions made at the boardroom level.

The private equity group was co-founded by Behdad Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano, so expect to see their names popping up more often.

But don’t expect to see Eghabli and Feliciano attending live matches or visiting the training ground, as Boehly has been in recent weeks.

He watched Thomas Tuchel’s side draw 2-2 with Wolverhampton Wanderers, going through the full range of emotions the Premier League can provide.

Boehly also witnessed heartbreak at Wembley last Saturday when the men’s side suffered a penalty shoot-out defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup final.

Fortunately, the women avenged their fellow Blues by beating Manchester City the following day.

Players and staff were honored by the presence of their future commander and leader in Cobham.

All of these interactions will contribute to a smooth transition once the takeover is officially complete.

It should still happen before the 31st^st of May, the expiry date of the special license granted to Chelsea to maintain current operations.

Clearlake Capital will have a say in Chelsea

Once signed, sealed and delivered, Boehly can begin operations properly, with plenty on its plate already.

Many of the issues are quite large, which means they may need to be approved by the higher powers first.

“I don’t think there’s a world where Clearlake says, ‘OK, Todd, you’re in charge, we’ll see you at the next board meeting,'” an American investor in European football told The Athletic.

“I’m sure they’re happy that he’s the face of it all and delegates a lot of the decisions to him, but there’s no way they won’t have a say in the big things.”

The ‘big stuff’ being perhaps the stadium renovation, improved training facilities, signings, manager rotation; all administrators expected to be covered by an owner.

As long as Boehly and Clearlake can move Chelsea in the right direction, it doesn’t matter who has the final say.

Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and views by following The Chelsea Chronicles Facebook and Twitter accounts

Nathaniel is a graduate football journalist from the University of Derby. He worked at Burton Albion as part of their media team for two years. Nathaniel produces regular articles for the club’s official website and matchday programme. He covered the 2018 U20 Women’s World Cup in Brittany and reported on grounds ranging from the non-league to the Premier League.