Todd Boehly hits barely-believable milestone as spending spree continues
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly hit another remarkable milestone as the Los Angeles Dodgers surpassed $1 billion (£790 million) in offseason spending ahead of the 2024 MLB season.
Since Boehly and his consortium have taken the reins at Stamford Bridge, money has flowed. The billionaire businessman quickly began exploiting a risky loophole in the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play regulations by offering unusually long contracts to players to spread transfer costs.
The technique Boehly has employed at Chelsea could now be considered a precursor for an extraordinary move for his biggest individual investment yet: the signing of Shohei Ohtani. The Dodgers landed the Japanese phenom by agreeing a $700m (£551m) contract, with $680m (£535m) deferred.
Ohtani accepting a deferred payment of such magnitude is hardly groundbreaking when it comes to baseball. Deferrals have been part of baseball deals for decades, with the most infamous example being the contract that Bobby Bonilla signed with the New York Mets in 1991, with the former player owed an annual payment that runs through 2035.
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Boehly spent the deferred money on Ohtani’s compatriot pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on a 12-year deal worth $325m (£256m), as well as another addition to the mound in former Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow. He signed a five-year extension with a guaranteed total of $136m (£107m), which takes the Dodgers’ total outlay to above $1bn in a matter of days.
The American’s willingness to spend on sporting success has been seen at Chelsea, although he will undoubtedly hope for a smoother transition to success. In the first full season since his takeover, Boehly’s Chelsea finished a lowly 12th in the Premier League - the Blues’s worst finish since 1993/94 when they came 14th - and are currently sat in 10th following a tough start to the current campaign.
Chelsea have spent close to $1.27bn (£1bn) on 25 players since Clearlake Capital bought the club in May 2022. There is a clear need to balance the books in the form of player transactions, but parting with homgrown players is a must as a 100 percent gain in the financial figures.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino may be forced to sell homegrown players (Getty Images)It means the likes of Conor Gallagher, who has impressed even in the struggling Blues team, will likely be available in the January transfer window. Any fee received for Gallagher would be pure profit, whereas big-money signings who have failed to deliver would have other factors accounted for such as the remaining value of their contract, for example.
During the summer transfer window, Chelsea raised £110m in transfer fees by parting with Mason Mount ( Manchester United ), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (AC Milan), Ethan Ampadu ( Leeds United ), Callum Hudson-Odoi ( Nottingham Forest ) and Lewis Hall ( Newcastle United). All of those players were produced by Chelsea's academy, so their transfer fees were pure profit.
Under the American owners, homegrown players appear to represent little more than a financial resource. Mauricio Pochettino would likely prefer to retain Gallagher given his importance to the team in midfield, but his value on the balance sheet likely outweighs any tactical benefits as Cheslea continue on a path of huge spending and remarkably long contracts.
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