Todd Boehly’s bid for Chelsea has “a lot of money behind it” but the American will be judged on whether he is a good owner by how “wisely” it is spent, a prospective board member has revealed.
Boehly’s consortium has agreed terms to buy the club in a £4.25 billion deal, which will see the Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner commit £1.75bn to the benefit of the Premier League side.
This includes investment in the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge as well as the continued funding of the men’s, women’s and academy sides, but Chelsea fans will have to wait until the summer transfer window to see if the club’s new owners will match the financial commitment of the Roman Abramovich era.
Conservative peer and House of Lords member Daniel Finkelstein, who as part of Boelhy’s consortium is set to join the Chelsea board once the sale of the club is approved by the Premier League and UK Government, said Chelsea fans can expect a “fabulous owner” in Boehly, after the Eldridge Industries chief executive saw off competition to win the race to buy the club.
“The job of the owner is judged by whether we spend money wisely, not just how much we spend,” Finkelstein, who is a Chelsea fan, told Talk TV when asked what level of financial commitment supporters of the club can expect. “The truth is there is a lot of money behind Todd Boehly’s bid, there will be a lot of investment in the club but it will also be invested wisely.”
Finkelstein added: “I think Chelsea is going to get, in Todd Boehly, a fabulous owner - I'm really impressed by him. I was very impressed before I met him, I think in a similar way to him about sport so it was a sort of meeting of minds anyway.”
Boehly was at Stamford Bridge on Saturday for Chelsea’s 2-2 with Wolves, in which the hosts conceded twice in the closing stages to throw away three points. His consortium has until May 31 to complete the sale of the club.
“We're still at the early stages - he's had a sale agreement with Chelsea and now the government has got to licence the sale because it's a sanctioned club and the Premier League has got to decide that I'm a fit director,” Finkelstein said.
