Chelsea's New Leadership Brings Clear Goals After Boehly's Exit

Chelsea’s goals are now “very clear” after Clearlake Capital took full control of the club. This change also marks the end of Todd Boehly's time as chairman.

On Wednesday night, Chelsea announced that Clearlake, led by co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose E. Feliciano, would buy out Boehly and director Mark Walter.

These two American billionaires teamed up with Clearlake to purchase the club from Roman Abramovich. The sale was ordered by the British government in May 2022.

Before Wednesday’s agreement, Clearlake owned 61.5 percent of Chelsea. Boehly and Walter shared the remaining ownership with Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss.

Chelsea stated that Wyss would “remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group.”

In a new statement on Thursday, Chelsea said: “Our ambition is clear: to compete at the highest level, to win major trophies, and to build sustained success.”

Chelsea's manager Alonso, who began his role on July 1, spoke to reporters and said this change is “an important day for the club.”

“Thanks to the former owners for what they’ve done. I was not here, but I know they played an important role,” he said before Chelsea's Premier League match against Brentford on Friday.

“And now that Behdad is taking more control, almost full control, I think it’s good that the main one is clear.

“I have very good relations with Behdad. He was the one that came to Madrid to explain the project, to convince me, and we are working well together.”

The Spaniard also said: “We know where we want to be; we know that everything takes time, but the ambition for that is very clear.”

Since the takeover in 2022, Chelsea's best finish in the Premier League has been fourth in the 2024/25 season. They also won the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup that year.

Last season was tough for Chelsea as they finished 10th in the Premier League. They hired Alonso, a former manager of Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, in the off-season to help improve the team.

The Blues have had a mixed start to this season. They have earned seven points from their first four Premier League games and currently sit sixth on the table.