New Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has warned that the club will not be able to splash out on new signings despite giving Thomas Tuchel a reported £200million budget this summer.
The American businessman, who acquired Chelsea from previous owner Roman Abramovich for £4.25billion last month alongside private equity firm Clearlake Capital, has indicated that money will be immediately available for the club to strengthen its squad this summer ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.
That has included giving Tuchel a £200million war chest following talks between the pair that agreed the team needed rebuilding. The Blues have already been heavily linked with a move for Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde and have a keen interest in Inter full-back Denzel Dumfries, with the latter potentially playing a part in a move to send Romelu Lukaku back to Inter on loan.
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But ahead of what is going to be a busy summer for the club, Boehly has emphasised the importance of abiding by Financial Fair Play rules, saying the Blues won’t be able to buy players at any price they like due to the restrictions.
"Financial Fair Play is starting to get some teeth and that will limit the ability to acquire players at any price,” Boehly told the SuperReturn International private equity conference in Berlin on Wednesday."UEFA takes it seriously and will continue to take it seriously. [More teeth] means financial penalties and disqualification from competitions."
Chelsea enjoyed a trophy-laden 19 years while under the ownership of Abramovich, who had no problem investing hundreds of millions of pounds into the club to sign the best players. And while Boehly has also promised, and seems to be delivering, on continuing to provide investment into the playing squad, the American wants Chelsea to work smarter in the market from now.
He plans to make greater use of data analysis at the club, specifically in the selection and recruitment of players - a model that is already hugely popular among sports owners in the USA and can already be seen in some Premier League sides. Liverpool, who are owned by the same Fenway Sports Group that run baseball heavyweights Boston Red Sox - have recruited large teams of data analysts in recent years and seen it pay off financially and on the pitch.
"If you look at the models that are very successful, Liverpool is a great model," added Boehly. "Liverpool generates a couple of hundred million more revenue than Chelsea and they generate earnings, so there is an opportunity to compete."
And it doesn’t seem like it’s just Chelsea that Boehly wants to see grow too as he also spoke about how the Premier League is currently deeply undervalued, believing a more optimised approach could help it unlock its true potential.
He said: “They don’t realise how big their opportunity is. Let’s get a hold of our destiny and think about how to optimise this,” before adding of elite football: “the asset class is getting institutionalised. Now, we are starting to realise the power of these platforms.”
