Todd Boehly has revealed his vision for Chelsea includes the team being part of a “multi-club model” similar to RB Leipzig and Manchester City.
Speaking at a conference in New York, the Chelsea owner and chairman also explained that Thomas Tuchel was sacked because the German did not share his own plans for the club.
Boehly said he had been impressed with the multi-club models operated by Red Bull and Manchester City and revealed his investment could branch out to include other teams across Europe.
“We’ve talked about a multi-club model, and I would love to build out the footprint,” Boehley said at the SALT conference.
“I think there are different countries where there are advantages to having a club. Red Bull does a really good job, they’ve got Leipzig and they have Salzburg, both of which are playing in the Champions League. They’ve figured out how to make that work.
“You have Man City, which has a big network of clubs. The challenge that Chelsea has right now is that when you have 18 to 20 year-old superstars, you can loan them out to other clubs but you put their development in someone else’s hands.
“Our goal is to make sure we can develop pathways for our Chelsea superstars to get onto the pitch while getting game-time. For me, the way to do that is to get another club in a very competitive league, maybe somewhere in Europe.”
On Tuchel, who was replaced by the former Brighton manager Graham Potter, Boehly said: “Our vision for the club was finding a manager who really wanted to collaborate with us.
“Our goal is to bring a team together, with the academy, first team and incremental clubs we want to acquire and develop, all of that has to be a well-oiled machine.
“The reality of our decision was Thomas didn’t see it the way we saw it. It wasn’t a decision that was the result of a single win or loss. It was a decision made on what we thought was the right decision for the club.”
Boehly also suggested the introduction of a Premier League ‘All-Star’ match would benefit English football.
Boehly, who also owns the Major League Baseball team the LA Dodgers, said that a ‘North vs South’ style match could help bring revenue to the wider football pyramid.
Boehly said the Premier League could learn a “lesson” from American sports, where ‘All-Star’ games are commonplace and part of the season.
