Fulham winger Willian has opened up on one of Todd Boehly's major decisions made during the most recent Chelsea summer transfer window.
Boehly, as already known, was thrown straight into the deep end upon his arrival as certain departures meant that the LA Dodgers co-owner had to cover as interim sporting director for the meantime- a vacancy he's now looking to fill amid the latest Christoph Freund blow.
Whilst spending around the £270million mark on quality additions including the likes of Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly, Boehly was also ruthless with outgoings.
Letting Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Marcos Alonso leave in different circumstances are a few decisions that may not have happened under the Roman Abramovich era.
READ MORE: Callum Hudson-Odoi has revealed Todd Boehly chat as Graham Potter hands Chelsea transfer boost
However, one controversial call made by Boehly and Clearlake Capital was the one to keep veteran Cesar Azpilicueta around, despite his desire to return to Spain after winning the last trophy possible in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021/22.
Azpilicueta himself, despite being disappointed initially with the refusal to let him leave during this transitional period, has now put this behind him as he looks to play his part in helping this new team settle under Graham Potter. Willian himself has praised Boehly for making this call when discussing his reaction to what happened during the latter parts of last season with the ownership situation.
“I couldn’t believe it when this situation happened," he told The Athletic. “For me, when you talk about Chelsea, you just see Roman and Marina. It’s been difficult for everyone inside the club.
“But this is where (former team-mate) Cesar Azpilicueta will help. He is a very good player, an important one for the club. He’s been there for 10 years. With his experience, he can help the young players that play there at the moment.”
He further clarified on the Spaniard's role: “He knows what to do in this situation. Chelsea is a big club, one of the best in the world. Every year, Chelsea are fighting for something, even if they change a manager. They are always there. In the seven years I was there, I had Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink, Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard. It almost become normal. But it didn’t stop us, we always fought for something.
“It’s hard to win the Premier League. It’s even harder now because of Manchester City. It is the team everyone wants to beat, Liverpool too. But this season there are a lot of teams who have improved, so it will be harder for everyone.”
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