Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali
Behdad Eghbali(Image: Robin Jones)
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After Todd Boehly and Mark Walter's departure, confirmed late on Wednesday evening, Clearlake Capital have now acquired full control of Chelsea Football Club.
The Blues confirmed in a lengthy statement that Clearlake had bought out Boehly and Walter's shares. Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss will remain an "important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group".
Make no mistake about it, though, this is now Clearlake's Chelsea. Ultimately, not too much has changed in that regard. Behdad Eghbali has always been the head honcho. Eghbali and fellow Clearlake co-founder Jose E. Feliciano now have full control of the west London club.
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Eghbali and Feliciano say there will be "no changes to the day-to-day operations, leadership or strategy at the club".
One of the things high on Clearlake's agenda is what to do regarding their stadium. There is an acceptance within the ownership group that they are playing catch-up to their Premier League rivals. Stamford Bridge's capacity is just over 40,000 - a lower figure than all of their 'big six' counterparts.
Sources say that remodelling and renovating their current home is not an option at the time of writing. Clearlake are set to either knock down Stamford Bridge and rebuild it, or move to another site.
Stamford Bridge Stadium, home to Chelsea Football Club, Chelsea, Greater London Authority, 2021
An aerial view of Stamford Bridge, the home of Chelsea Football Club(Image: Photo by Historic England Archive/Heritage Images via Getty Images)
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A site in Earl's Court, located just over a mile away from their current stadium, is an option for the Chelsea ownership group. Earl's Court Development Company (ECDC) have already announced a £10billion master plan that is focused on housing and retail rather than a football ground, however there is a feeling inside the west London club that there will be more than enough space spare for what Clearlake want.
This is a significant item on Clearlake's agenda, although there is an acceptance internally that the process is complex and will take a significant amount of time to firstly plan and then complete.
If Clearlake go down the knocking down Stamford Bridge route, moving to Wembley Stadium is an option for Chelsea. Tottenham, the Blues' London rivals, did exactly that for all of their home matches during the 2017/18 season, and a small portion of the following campaign.