Former Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink has weighed in with an honest verdict on the current ownership at Stamford Bridge.
It is fair to say that it has been a turbulent ride since the Chelsea owners purchased the club in 2022.
The ownership group BlueCo, which includes co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, have dealt with plenty of criticism in their time. They’ve made mistakes along the way, particularly in the transfer market, trying to get the club back on top. After a ridiculous turnover of the squad across three years, there are signs that Enzo Maresca’s young group are gelling together and moving in the right direction.
Last season, American businessman Boehly insisted Chelsea are on the right track with their long-term vision, which includes extremely long deals for their players. Let’s wait and see with a bit more time
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly during the Champions League match against Benfica.
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
Guus Hiddink assesses current Chelsea owners
Guus Hiddink, who had two spells in the manager’s dugout at Chelsea, has delivered his verdict on his former club and their ownership.
While he flags that BlueCo made errors at the start of their tenure, especially with their transfers, everything has settled down.
Hiddink told Sportnieuws.nl: “How do I see Chelsea now? Well, it’s changed a lot, of course, since the takeover. Yes, a lot has changed, especially because of the situation involving Russia. That’s right. It’s changed massively, the club’s now owned by Americans. Things are going a bit better now, but before that, I had the impression it had turned into more of a trading house.
“Is it still that way? Because I believe, I don’t know the exact number, they’ve got around 40 players under contract just for the first team. Maybe even more,” The host asked.
“Yes. I think that approach was wrong,” Hiddink said.
“And that actually reminds me of something else. Liverpool were also going to be taken over by Americans at one point. And you could imagine the board saying, ‘We can’t stop this; we don’t have the power.’ But what did the fans do? In the 64th minute – I think it was against Manchester, 1–2, if I recall – the fans who disagreed with it all stood up and left the stadium en masse. That was years ago. And that made people realise, ‘Wait a minute, we can’t just sell off our club and turn it into a trading house.’ That’s what happened at Chelsea in the end, unfortunately.”
Unlike earlier in 2025 when there were fan protests at Chelsea, the mood is a bit more positive. It helps that they finished last season by winning the Club World Cup and Conference League, along with finishing in the Premier League’s top four.
However, the danger at the Bridge is they’re only ever a few bad results away from things turning.
The truth is that the Blues now have a squad size that is much more reasonable to manage, but that doesn’t take into account the number of players out on loan.
What people need to get to grips with when it comes to these Chelsea owners is that they often sign individuals with one eye on selling them for a profit further down the line. It means they are not going out into the transfer market and signing the world’s best in their prime.
Chelsea’s belief is they are building something longer lasting and a squad that can become serial winners together in the future.
Guus Hiddink applauds the Chelsea fans after his last match in charge as the interim manager.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Guus Hiddink’s record at Stamford Bridge
Retired manager Hiddink, 78, had two spells in the manager’s dugout at Chelsea. His record was pretty impressive as well, playing an expansive brand of football.
Matches Wins Draws Losses
22 16 5 1
Guus Hiddink’s first spell at Chelsea (2009)
Matches Wins Draws Losses
27 10 11 6
Guus Hiddink’s first spell at Chelsea (2015-2016)
Chelsea have had some legendary coaches over the years, and Hiddink is one of them.