Todd Boehly's consortium seem set to complete the purchase of Chelsea in the coming weeks and the American billionaire has held a couple of crunch meetings this week. Men's team manager Thomas Tuchel and women's team boss Emma Hayes had one-to-one meetings with him ahead of what could be a seismic shift at Stamford Bridge.
The takeover will mark the end of Roman Abramovich's 19-year reign as owner of the Blues, a period that has been the most successful in the club's history. Whether Boehly's consortium will match the spending power of the sanctioned Oligarch or not remains to be seen with a potentially crucial summer transfer window on the horizon.
Chelsea's men's side are facing a significant overhaul. Centre-backs Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are set to leave on free transfer while the futures of Romelu Lukaku Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho and N'Golo Kante also remain uncertain.
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A summer transfer plan had not yet been discussed with Tuchel prior to this week but according to a report from The Times, potential business was talked about as the pair met for lunch on Thursday. The meeting was later confirmed by the club's official Twitter account.
Hayes, who had her own meeting with Boehly on Friday, spoke highly of the American, telling The Times: "I had lunch with Todd. He watched the girls train, had a really lovely couple of hours with him. [He was] delightful, really passionate, he’s just a normal down to earth guy, really passionate about Chelsea, loves Chelsea.
"He’s as ambitious as we are and it is a perfect fit. I saw him at one of the games he went to at Stamford Bridge but he was upstairs and I was downstairs!"
Chelsea announced Boehly's offer had been accepted by the club and Raine Group, the bank advising on the deal, writing in a statement: "Chelsea Football Club can confirm that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group, led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss, to acquire the club."
