Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali said the club will start signing ‘ready-made’ players in this summer’s transfer market in a rare public address on the state of affairs at the west London club.
The co-founder of Clearlake Capital, majority shareholder of Chelsea through BlueCo, was speaking on a range of matters ahead of the club’s match against Manchester United this weekend at Stamford Bridge, which is set to see supporters protest against their ownership.
Disaffected fans will be joined by supporters of Strasbourg – also owned by BlueCo – in a planned march to voice their frustration at what organisers, NotAProjectCFC, describe as the ‘systematic destruction’ of both clubs under BlueCo/Clearlake.
Chelsea have spent around £1.5billion on new players since the 2022 takeover of the club, with BlueCo’s transfer strategy focusing on acquiring young, high-potential talent on lucrative long-term contracts. This has led to criticism from areas, including from some of the players, that the side has lacked experience.
Speaking at the CAA’s World Congress of Sports conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, Eghbali said that BlueCo were looking to add more experience to their pre-existing ‘core’ group of players.
‘The view was to recruit and build elite players that can, frankly, be together and have that stability in the squad,’ Eghbali said.
Eghbali said BlueCo were looking to add experience to their pre-existing ‘core’ group of players
This weekend fans will be joined by supporters of Strasbourg – also owned by BlueCo – to protest against what organisers describe as the ‘systematic destruction’ of both clubs
‘We’re still in the 40th, 50th minute of that process. But the view is to keep, sign and retain and compensate and extend some of the world’s best players, and ultimately the view was you need, eight, 10, 12, 15 elite players to win and win sustainably, year after year.
‘I think we’ve done a few things right, a lot of things right. We’ve got to be better on a few things, to add more ready-made players at this part of the project, to take (it) to the next level, to be consistent over time.
‘We recognise we need balance. We have world champions, we have Champions League winners, we have elite, elite young players. Experience has developed now. The team has been together for two or three years. The objective is to keep your best players, and we’ve done that, and there’s no intention to rebuild every three or four years. You tweak a model, you improve, you learn from mistakes.
‘Our goal is to have elite, elite players on the pitch, elite characters off the pitch that our fans can bond with, that will be at the club, that will be club legends for the next 10 or 15 years and beyond. I think, generally, we’ve been fortunate, not in getting everything right, but we do have a core (of) good players, global players. Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Levi Colwill, Estevao Willian, Reece James.
‘The view is now that we’re here with a great core base, to add some of that experience, to take the team to the next level and have consistency. That fact is not lost on us, and we’re at a point where we can take that next step, hopefully in the next year and beyond.’
Chelsea are at risk of missing out on qualifying for next season’s Champions League, sitting four points behind fifth-placed Liverpool. They have won just one of their last seven league games, losing their last three, with new head coach Liam Rosenior struggling to consistently improve results following the sudden departure of Enzo Maresca on New Year’s Day.
‘Our policy has been no in-season (head coach) changes,’ said Eghbali. ‘You certainly review and hold not only the manager, but the management team, the sporting team, accountable, but typically in the summers, not in season.
‘It’s not a change we wanted to make (Enzo Maresca leaving). It’s a change that had a bit of a negative impact in the season, when you’re changing systems and personnel, and it’s one we’ve got to fight our way out of.
‘We still have six matches in the Premier League, and an FA Cup semi-final coming up. So, hopefully the story of this season hasn’t been written yet, and you’ve got a lot to fight for. In my perspective, when you get punched in the face, you’ve got to fight back, you’ve got to stand up and fight. And it’s going to hopefully show a lot about the character of this squad.
‘I think the perspective is stability, and frankly, getting that stability on the manager side is one of the things we haven’t done right yet, and it’s something we’re striving to improve on.’
‘The view is now that we’re here with a great core base, to add some of that experience, to take the team to the next level and have consistency,’ Eghbali said
Eghbali has backed Rosenior, who joined from sister club Strasbourg in January, to bring success
Eghbali has backed Rosenior, who joined from sister club Strasbourg in January, to be successful.
‘On Liam (Rosenior), we had the opportunity to work with him daily for 18 plus months, so we knew what we were getting,’ he added.
‘We think he has every attribute to be successful here. He got off to a great start. We’ve had a tough past five, six matches, but I think we’re behind Liam. Of course, it’s a results business, but we think he can be successful long term.’
Eghbali insisted BlueCo are fully committed to improving their ownership strategy as they look to replicate Chelsea’s successes under former owner Roman Abramovich – which saw them lift five Premier League and two Champions League titles during his 19-year investment.
Eghbali said: ‘For the fans, we care. We want the club to be successful. We’re focused on delivering that on-pitch performance.
‘I think six months ago everyone was super-happy. Results have been mixed, disappointing more recently. There’s a full reflection on what we can do better, what we can improve on. There is a plan. We reflect on the plan. We try to improve the plan and tweak the plan if it’s not working. The message is we’re committed.
‘Can this be successful without winning? The answer is no. We’ve got to win. And it doesn’t mean you’re going to win every game, it doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes, that you don’t have downturns, but ultimately the objective, and especially the objective that a club like Chelsea is, you’ve got to win, you’ve got to win trophies, and you’ve got to win consistently again.
‘We were fortunate enough to do so last year. We’ve had a bit of an up and down year this year, but the objective hasn’t changed.’
