Four tins wey fit happun as kasala kontinu among owners of Chelsea FC

Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali na di two ogbonge pipo wey dey involved for Chelsea uneasy co-ownership

Chelsea get two owners wey wan buy each oda out of di club. But none of dem wan sell sake of kasala wey dey affect di heart of di Premiership club.

Todd Boehly wey pipo dey see as di main owner and decision-maker of di club dey one corner.

Pipo dey see am as di main owner sake of say im bin dey face di public wen dem bin take ova Chelsea from former owner Roman Abrahovich and im bin also make big public comments, including di proposal of one Premier League all-star game.

Boehly, wey also be di owner of LA Dodgers baseball team, first show face for one Bloomberg report last week wey say im wan buy out im rivals for Clearlake Capital.

Even though im get big profile and im dey front imsef as di main owner of Chelsea, Boehly na one of di small investors for Chelsea.

Im get only 12.8% stake – di same stake wey allies and fellow billionaires Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss get, wey limit im power to force di issue.

Behdad Eghbali wey be di most active and powerful figure for Stamford Bridge, and co-founder of private equity firm Clearlake, dey di oda corner.

Di company get majority as high as 61.5% stake for di club.

Im dey beside Clearlake co-founder Jose E Feliciano as dem tok say dem no wan sell dia stake for di club instead dem wan increase dia stake.

Dem dey willing to dey patient as dem dey in control of Chelsea, while Boehly want make dem settle di mata within di next two months.

Dis ownership group – collabo in order to buy Chelsea afta UK goment bin place sanctions on former owner Roman Abramovich sake of Russia invasion of Ukraine – di collabo don break into two clear camps.

Di truth be say, pipo inside di football circle don dey suspect say issues dey wit di Boehly and Clearlake collabo-ownership for some time.

But, as breeze don blow now, evri tin don open and di truth don come out. Di kwesion of how a group wey bin invest £2.5bn to buy di club, and dem still commit anoda £1.75bn for spending, don clear di stand-off and e don dey clearer now to focus on.

Di Game of Thrones and power struggle

Behdad Eghbali, Graham Potter and Todd Boehly — Eghbali (left) and Boehly (right) wit former manager Graham Potter, wey dem bin sack seven months later

Dis kasala wey be like di Game of Thrones-situation go back to early 2022 wen UK goment bin force Roman Abramovich to sell Chelsea sharp -sharp.

Boehly become very popular sake of di bidding process, dem bin make am chairman until 2027 and im appoint imsef as di interim sporting director.

For more dramatic and chaotic start to di ownership Chelsea bin spend big, dem sign Raheem Sterling, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Kalidou Koulibaly and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.

Na £255m dem spend under Boehly initial leadership.

Dem later sack Thomas Tuchel dat time and replace am wit Graham Potter for September 2022 afta a joint-review from both sides of di ownership 100 days into dia tenure.

But na Boehly make di ultimate call, as dem bin line up Potter as replacement bifor dem sack Tuchel.

Wen Boehly bin step down as sporting director for January 2023 – and dem replace am wit two former Brighton pipo Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart – Eghbali start to gain control.

Im chook bodi for di deals to sign Mykhailo Mudryk for £89m and Enzo Fernandez for £107m for a record £320m January transfer window.

Di kasala between dem start to grow around di end of di 2022-23 season, when Chelsea finish 12th, dia worst finish for di Premier League era.

Boehly enter di dressing room to give public dressing down to di squad afta di defeat by Brighton.

Dem believe say na Sterling im criticize pass and Boehly from dat day begin comot hand evriday from di day-to-day running of di club.

Eghbali begin take more control for di following months, even though na di two owners bin make di decision to appoint Mauricio Pochettino as manager alongside di co-sporting directors.

Wetin divide dem about Pochettino

Di pipo wey dey Todd Boehly side for Chelsea board bin also kontinu to support Pochettino afta im end well .

Pochettino finish strong for di 2023-24 season as Chelsea bin finish sixth for di league even though dia campaign bin no too smooth like dat.

But, to di surprise of many wey dey outside di Chelsea boardroom, Eghbali and di club sporting directors bin complete a two-day review, afta di review di popular Argentine comot from di club my mutual consent on 21 May.

For one interview about di future of Pochettino im reply say: “Di number one tin be say you gatz dey patient.

“You dey put sometin togeda and you dey expect am to come togeda sharp-sharp, but di reality be say wetin dey really good dey take a little bit (of) time. For us Patience always dey our mind.”

Boehly and Pochettino bin chop dinner togeda on 17 May. However, Eghbali and im sporting directors bin dey prepare for a post-season review wey ultimately led to di change of manager.

Di three of dem, Eghbali, Winstanley and Laurence bin no dey share di same vision wit Pochettino about future transfer strategy, playing style and di building of a new set-piece department – and dem agree make Pochettino comot from di club by ‘mutual consent’.

On a wider point, under di current co-ownership, Chelsea don spend more dan £1.5 billion on transfers inside five windows.

Almost evri senior player from di Abramovich era don comot from di club or dem sell di players out, alongside di majority from di first window for 2022 wey Boehly bin control.

Even players and first-team staff dey feel di kasala sake of how tins dey change sharp -sharp.

Enzo Maresca come wit a five-year plan and believe say im dey in-line wit dem, and di vision of di sporting directors.

Of course, dem dey hang on im success well-well, but some early signs dey positive as Chelsea target Champions League qualification for dis new 2024-25 campaign.

Boehly bin still make dem feel im presence for di same directors’ box as Eghbali wen Chelsea lost 2-0 to Manchester City for di opening Premier League match of di season.

Wia Chelsea dey now?

Di best way to describe di way di relationships of di owners dey fall small small na “culture clash” instead of a major blow-up.

Complaints already dey from sources on one side say Eghbali dey too involved on di football side of operation on a day-to-day basis and im need to leave di experts to do dia job.

But Clearlake insist say im dey only help on di financial side of deals and allow analysts and sporting directors to lead.

Pipo for Boehly camp dey point to im hands-off approach for di successful LA Dodgers for baseball, wia im no dey involved for sporting operation.

Di truth be say, di two owners hands no too clean sake of say two of dem get hand for di mata.

And e don result to wetin dey look like an oversized squad sometimes, sake of di different transfer strategies between dem.

On di positive side, Chelsea say dem don modernise di medical and recruitment departments, wit work on di academy and training ground wey go start soon.

Newly promoted club president Jason Gannon don take di lead on di stadium project from board member Jonathan Goldstein, wey be di CEO of Boehly investment firm Cain International.

Although Goldstein still dey involved, di accomplished Gannon, wey get experience as im dey work as managing director of SoFi Stadium for Los Angeles, dey in charge. Architect Janet Marie Smith, wey dey continue to work wit Boehly on Dodger Stadium, don comot, and Populous na im dey give advise now on di design possibilities.

However, di ownership issues and change for di senior executive staff don significantly slow down di work on ground redevelopment or di move to a new stadium, wit di aim of expanding di 40,000-seater Stamford Bridge by 2030, wey dem no dey sure about again.

E don also be one of di factors on front-of-shirt sponsorship deal wey dem bin secure for di start of di second season back to back.

Yet di women’s team, wey don get less support from di owners, still remain successful as dem dey find a minority investor to buy into dat side of di club, wey don split from di first team.

Sources inside di men’s first team insist say di kasala of public ownership no go affect dia performances for pitch, while di women’s team say dem neva feel any impact.

Wen and how dem go settle dis mata?

Na four tins wey fit happun:

Boehly buy Clearlake stake.
Clearlake buy out Boehly and company.
A situation wia nobody wan gree for each oda and di unhappy alliance and collabo go kontinu or dem go try to settle some part of di issues.
A third party fit chook mouth inside di mata.

However, dis options dey far more complicated dan just di two owners “wey dey fight”.

Both Boehly and Clearlake get veto power to make major decisions, including di sales of shares to third parties.

As majority investors, e be like say Clearlake get upper hand, but Boehly fit bank on Eghbali and Feliciano wey dey answerable to shareholders if any offer come in from dat area for dem.

All available evidence suggests say Boehly fit make a speculative bid to buy shares from Clearlake to test di water – and any bid fit help set di value of di club, wey dey expected to increase from di £2.5bn wen dem bin buy am.

For di middle of dis high financial stakes, both sides dey privately accuse di oda say dem dey behave somehow to impress pipo.

Boehly bin don get plan since to buy a Premier League team afta im first explore di chance to buy Tottenham bifor di 2020 Covid pandemic, while Eghbali dey always display im daily involvement and passion for di Chelsea project.

Dem go definitely solve dis gbas gbos around di ownership situation outside di pitch and na money go decide di outcome thru di banks and di boardroom.