Todd Boehly has come under heavy criticism in the wake of comments levied by the new Chelsea co-owner at the recent Salt New York event in which the American business mogul and investor showed his naivety when it comes to the footballing world.
The billionaire co-founder, chairman, CEO, and controlling member of holding company Eldridge Industries has come into the Premier League world busting throw the door feet first when he sanctioned a massive Blues spending spree this summer that saw deals completed for Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabriel Slonina, and Denis Zakaria (loan fee) to the tune of £243m.
But despite the heralded business to hopefully push Chelsea back into the conversation as potential Premier League winners, Thomas Tuchel was sacked after a frustrating loss to Dinamo Zagreb only for new boss Graham Potter to replace the German and manage just a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge last night against visiting RB Salzburg.
With Tuchel’s sacking already leaving some bewildered about the maneuvering of the club, Boehly has recently put his foot in his mouth in a number of ways that have now rubbed many in the Premier League sphere of influence the wrong way given his views regarding a European Super League as well as an American-style All-Star match.
Boehly went one step further as well when he showed his distinct lack of knowledge of the club he is now in charge of when speaking at Salt New York 2022 and making the claim that Chelsea’s Cobham Academy pipeline was responsible for the development of global superstars Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne, which Arsenal and Premier League legend Thierry Henry - among others - took offense to.
Henry wasted no time in sharing his unfiltered opinion about Boehly who stated “Our academy is Mo Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Tammy Abraham, Reece James, Mason Mount, Trevoh Chalobah” to which the Gunners icon responded “Did he say a lesson? A lesson? What’s that supposed to mean? What are they trying to teach? A lesson? Are you a teacher or something?” while during Champions League coverage for CBS Sports.
He continued; “The comment about De Bruyne and Mo Salah… just learn your own lessons and then come back and teach us something.”
Despite his enormous wealth, Boehly’s comments do not help the reputation of millions of American fans - and a cadre of possible billionaire investors that retain an interest in getting a piece of the Premier League pie - that the nation houses fans that are actually knowledgable of the sport either in England or anywhere across the globe as a whole.
Boehly may have opened the club’s checkbook this summer in a bid to provide an immediate bounce back to the fortunes at Stamford Bridge, but he has a long way to go in order to build ties with the club’s fanbase and the broader community both in England and in Europe.
