Chelsea fans got their wish this summer as Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital were made the club's newest owners, and a period of change began in London.
After Roman Abramovich's money and trophy-laden 19 years at Stamford Bridge, the fresh-faced Boehly has come into the club and given it an immediate shakeup. He has already plunged himself deep into the economic and cut-throat world of European football's negotiations and finance, alongside allowing key senior boardroom members Marina Granovskaia and Bruce Buck to leave the club.
Boehly is currently acting as interim sporting director as he attempts to bring in a collection of Thomas Tuchel's desired transfer targets as reinforcement for the upcoming season. Although there is still no tangible evidence of this work yet, the imminent transfer of Raheem Sterling - with the possibility of adding his Manchester City teammate Nathan Ake to that list shortly - things are starting to heat up on the corridors of Cobham.
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The 48-year-old co-owner has taken the most active and front-facing stance of any non-playing or coaching employee of the club in recent times, and has excited fans with his all-guns-blazing approach to meeting agents and seeking out deals.
Despite not having any previous links to the complex footballing world, Boehly has been heavily backed by his LA Dodgers Chief Executive, Stan Kasten. "Todd is an incredible sports fan, he’s very passionate about the team but he’s just as passionate, as is Mark [Walter]," he told SkySports.
Boehly is also a co-owner of the Major League Baseball side and oversaw a period of rebuild at the franchise that has provided Blues fans with an insight as to how he might run the ship at Chelsea. Katsen was appointed president of the MLB side in 2012, shortly after the purchase.
"All of the thing he does, not just with the stadium but the stadium experience and the community relations, effort, all three of those different areas are very important to all of them," Katsen continued. "He’s given us the resources we need to be leaders across the board in all of those programmes.
"By nature, I’m aggressive, they [Boehly and Walter] have always encouraged me to be more aggressive. What we’ve experienced here makes them the best owners in sports.
"It is one of those rare, premier global iconic brands. Like the Dodgers, like the LA Lakers, Chelsea is right in that same conversation and I think we’re a good group to fit in.
"Sports fans are always sceptical whenever you’re not winning, we have sceptical sports fans in America, of American owners! I don’t think it has anything to do with that, it will have to do with what kind of plan and people he puts in place, the resources he has to get the job done.
"Based on what he has done here with the Dodgers, I would foresee all of those good things for Chelsea."
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