TODD BOEHLY reportedly wanted Mauricio Pochettino to STAY at Chelsea ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Pochettino left Stamford Bridge by mutual consent at the end of last season despite securing European football.
The 52-year-old was let go following an internal review conducted by sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
Winstanley and Stewart put together an 18-page report detailing why Pochettino had to be dismissed after just one season.
However, The Times report Boehly and some of his Clearlake Capital co-owners were divided over the manager’s future.
While Clearlake supported the two sporting directors, Boehly attempted to overturn the decision and publicly backed Pochettino.
The American businessman only stood down when he realised the majority of his colleagues backed Winstanley and Stewart.
Chelsea‘s decision to let Pochettino go is understood to be the “tipping point” which has led to a significant power struggle at Stamford Bridge.
Insiders at the club reject any talk of a reported civil war among top officials and claim the relationship between Boehly and co-owner Behdad Eghbali remains courteous and professional.
But SunSport last week reported the duo are at loggerheads and want to buy each other out.
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Former Blues chairman Ken Bates now reckons the club’s power-sharing ‘committee’ is a recipe for disaster.
He said: “Football is not the sport I once knew and loved. Clubs are now either an investment or among a group of investments. Chelsea is included in that.
“I wouldn’t know how good a committee is or whether they can work because I only ever worked in committees of one.
“When you get large groups or committees of people trying to work together, you usually end up with two or three people sitting around doodling on a notepad.”
Boehly and Eghbali have spent more than £1.2bn on new players since taking over two years ago.
CHELSEA are a circus — aren’t they?, writes Troy Deeney.
But the bigger concern should be if somehow, some way, Todd Boehly’s insane master-plan brings about success this season.
Finish in the top four. Win a trophy like the FA Cup.
He will then turn around and say: “See, it works” and all of a sudden, other clubs will begin considering copying this mad model to try and compete in the Premier League.
Before you know it, there will be a bigger divide between the top clubs and the rest and this country’s top flight will become something we have been fighting against — a Super League.
The smaller sides and promoted teams will be wiped out by the elite and will end up saying, ‘What’s the point?’
Football as we know it will change, and there will be no going back.
As a neutral, you don’t want to wish failure on a club or a regime, but it’s depressing to think about.
We should almost be looking at it in amazement — the owners have come in with this model and they’ve treated it as if they are buying stocks and shares, not players or human beings.
Boehly has wiped away any sense of sentiment or old-school values from that club and the worrying thing is that he doesn’t seem to care.
Does he even like football?
Read Troy Deeney’s hard-hitting opinion on Boehly’s Chelsea shambles in full.
Or check out all of Troy’s columns on SunSport.
