Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
The Chelsea ownership situation is set to change drastically in the near future after Todd Boehly and Mark Walter have started exploring selling their own shares in the club.
Boehly has been one of the faces of the Chelsea project from when he was part of a consortium which bought the club from Roman Abramovich.
Despite being seen at Stamford Bridge regularly during the early years of his tenure, he only actually owns 12.8% of Chelsea, alongside Walter who has the same percentage.
Todd Boehly and Mark Walter graphic
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Chelsea fans will fume as Todd Boehly sets his valuation for club shares
Clearlake, led by Behdad Eghbali, are the favourites to buy those shares and add to their 61.5% majority stake although these will not come cheap.
Matt Law has stated that both parties who are looking to sell value the club at more than double what was paid for it, meaning their stakes are now worth that much more too.
Chelsea v Arsenal - Premier League
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He told the London is Blue podcast: “Now, the big change on this is, it’s very clear that Boehly and Walter are willing to sell their stakes, both of which are about 12.8% each.
“The other very interesting news to emerge that certainly none of us had wind of before today, is that in terms of the potential sale of their stakes, they both value the club at north of £5bn, which is twice what they paid.
“The actual price for Chelsea at the time was £2.5bn. So, I mean, for Clearlake to buy both of those shares, it would cost well over £1bn just to buy those shares. So, that is a steep, steep valuation of those shares.”
There will be plenty of Chelsea fans wondering how they have come up with this valuation, especially when taking into account where the club currently sits in comparison to when they were bought.
Pedro Neto of Chelsea
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The Blues were still technically the holders of the Champions League when Boehly and co registered their interest in taking over. They have qualified for the competition just once since the takeover.
Despite Xabi Alonso being in charge, Chelsea are set for another campaign without any form of European football, putting a dent in their expected revenue over the next 12 months.
Plenty of money has been spent in the transfer windows too, with a large portion of that being spent on players who have not directly improved the first team squad.
There is a hope that signings such as Morgan Rogers, Maxence Lacroix and Marco Palestra will put them back on the right path, but until the new season gets underway there is no proof of this happening.
It feels as if Boehly and co are expecting rewards for what many will see as a failed tenure so far at the helm.