Chelsea are set to enter a new era of club ownership under American billionaire Todd Boehly after his consortium agreed to acquire the Premier League side in a £4.25billion takeover deal.
The Blues confirmed in the early hours of Saturday that the consortium led by Boehly, including Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss, had put pen to paper on the takeover package to take control of the club from Roman Abramovich. It is expected that the deal will officially be completed in late May once the members of the consortium pass the Premier League’s owners and directors test.
As part of the deal, Boehly and his partners have committed to investing £1.75bn in the club’s future, ranging from redeveloping Stamford Bridge to ensuring Thomas Tuchel has sufficient funds to improve his squad. And as the west London club prepare for a crucial summer, Mirror Football looks at the list of objectives on the American’s list as he prepares to take on his role as custodian.
Contracts
Unfortunately for Chelsea, the damage has already been done in terms of contract renewals. It has already been announced that Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen will leave the club when their contracts expire on June 30, with the pair heading for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
Captain Cesar Azpilicueta also faces an uncertain future, despite the fact the Blues triggered a one-year extension of his current deal. The 32-year-old has received an offer from Barcelona and, after nine seasons at Stamford Bridge, may be tempted by a return to Spain if Chelsea’s renewal offer is not to his liking.
The defensive trio’s contracts were the most urgent due to the time constraints, but now Chelsea must focus on tying down their future stars to long-term deals. Mason Mount is contracted until 2024 but with interest from elsewhere, the club will be keen to resolve any issues as quickly as possible with a lengthy renewal. Similarly, the issue of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho’s future must be resolved with the midfield pair out of contract next summer.
Have Your Say! Which players should Thomas Tuchel target for Chelsea when their takeover goes through? Comment below.
Transfers and Tuchel happiness
Thomas Tuchel will be shopping out of necessity this summer, rather than simply searching for an upgrade on his current options. Losing two key defenders such as Rudiger and Christensen means at least one new centre-back will be required to ensure the Blues do not suffer a loss in quality at the back. Any failure to do so may result in Tuchel becoming frustrated, and given his importance to the club, that cannot be allowed to happen on Boehly’s watch.
Sevilla defender Jules Kounde remains Tuchel’s prime target to fill the right side of the German’s back three, while RB Leipzig starlet Josko Gvardiol has emerged as a contender to fill the void left by Rudiger. Neither deal will come cheap and the new owners will be forced to dig deep into their pockets to fund the transfers, which could cost in excess of £100m together.
Tuchel has reiterated that Romelu Lukaku will be a part of his squad next season, but speculation linking the Belgian with a return to Italy refuses to go away. If Lukaku was to quit Stamford Bridge less than a year after his £97.5m record transfer, the Chelsea head coach would surely look to sign a replacement to compete with Kai Havertz and Timo Werner up front.
Stamford Bridge plans
A key part of securing their status the preferred bidder were the plans put forward by Boehly’s consortium to redevelop Stamford Bridge. The stadium currently holds a capacity of just 40,834, making it the ninth-largest arena in English football and certainly required a makeover to put Chelsea in line with their fellow ‘Big Six’ rivals.
Boehly has engaged the services of property developer Jonathan Goldstein and has held discussions with the former project director for Abramovich’s abandoned redevelopment, David Hickey. Meanwhile, architect Janet Marie Smith, who worked on many major stadium redevelopments in the US, has also been consulted. The issue of how to expand or redevelop Stamford Bridge has been a key concern for Chelsea for many years. The freehold for the stadium in west London is owned by the Chelsea Pitch Owners, not the club itself, and planning permission on a proposed 60,000-seater stadium expired two years ago.
It is understood that moving temporarily to Wembley is not an option, with the club expected to construct the new stadium by renovating one stand at a time. And with a reported budget of £1bn to make the stadium one of the finest in football, Chelsea fans can look forward to an exciting future in their new home.
