Chelsea ask for further investment as Todd Boehly gamble at risk of backfiring

03 August 2023 , 17:32

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Chelsea owner Todd Boehly may be ready to welcome some investment at Stamford Bridge following their recent transfer splurges (Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)

Chelsea are welcoming outside investors as the club's ownership group look to raise capital following their spending splurge during their first year in charge, reports suggest.

Clearlake Capital, took over the Stamford Bridge outfit for £2.5billion ($3.2bn) from Roman Abramovich last year after the Russian oligarch was sanctioned by the UK Government. From there, the club spent a staggering £600million ($759m) in the transfer market as chairman Todd Boehly looked to immediately put his stamp on the playing staff.

Enzo Fernandez, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Lesley Ugochukwu, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Benoît Badiashile were all signed during the first three windows of Boehly's reign, but results on the pitch haven't corresponded with the spending.

Thomas Tuchel was dismissed as head coach in September before Frank Lampard was eventually installed as interim manager to see out the season. The Blues failed to find their groove, though, as they struggled to a lowly 12th-placed finish in the Premier League- their lowest in nearly 30 years.

Now, Clearlake Capital are considering the possibility of attracting investment as they look to raise as much as £393m ($500m), according to Bloomberg. It is unclear whether this would mean be an investment in the form of a combination of debt and equity and no concrete decision has been made over the prospect, as things stand.

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The end of the 2022-23 season has allowed for the slate to be cleaned somewhat in terms of the team, with former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino having been named as the club's new manager. Following the team's dismal showing last term, the Argentine has been tasked with overseeing a significant turnover in players this summer.

In the boardroom, the task of moving the club forward following such a tumultuous first campaign in charge in West London has not been a simple task, however. The two-time European champions failed to find a shirt sponsor for this season, while they are struggling to compete with the revenues rival clubs in the division can raise on matchdays due to the capacity of their stadium.

Mauricio Pochettino is concerned about the size of Chelsea's squad (Getty Images)

While clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal boast larger grounds and the corresponding corporate areas, Stamford Bridge lags behind in this respect and can only seat approximately 40,000 supporters. Chelsea's latest accounts showed that the club made a loss of £116 million on revenue of £453 million for the period ending 30 June 2022.

For the time being, head coach Pochettino has explained that the club is still exploring potential avenues as he looks to strengthen his squad before the season opener versus Liverpool. He said: "Yes, of course, maybe we can add some different profile or different player who can help us, of course, we are open.

"I am so happy with both and we have younger players like Mason (Burstow) and (Armando) Broja in the UK recovering from his procedure. We need to analyse now in the next weeks until the transfer window closes. We will take the best decision for the team.

"It is important because you need to start the Premier League in a good condition knowing each other and try to fight for each other to create a real-time that is prepared to go and face opponents like Liverpool, Man City and different teams like this."

Tom Beattie