Latest news with #ToddBoehly
Times
a day ago
- Business
- Times
Enzo Fernández finally looking like player Chelsea paid £106m for
The signing of Enzo Fernández was the marquee moment of Chelsea's transfer largesse under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. It was the acquisition of a standout young player within a World Cup-winning team, signed for a British transfer record of £106million, and the product of an aggressive, stubborn transfer pursuit. It was a statement of intent. For the selling club, Benfica, whom Chelsea face on Saturday in the round of 16 at the Club World Cup, it was a lucrative but bruising negotiation. It was a deal that marked an extraordinary profit for the club and their president Rui Costa, who had signed him for just £10million only six months previously from River Plate. Chelsea had swept into Lisbon and paid a king's ransom. Yet there is unlikely to be much affection for Fernández at Benfica. Chelsea's ruthlessness left a bitter taste for Costa. They proposed a higher guaranteed sum, within a total agreement worth £108million, and then reneged on it in January, with Fernández left unsettled and desperate to conclude the deal. 'I cannot accept what they are doing,' the manager at the time, Roger Schmidt, said. 'To make the player crazy and then pretend they can pay the clause and later they want to negotiate. I cannot accept what they are doing.' Only João Félix's transfer to Atletico Madrid, worth £107million, has earned Benfica more money in the club's history. Yet while the deal did not draw the same level of criticism as João Neves's departure for Paris Saint-Germain last summer, there are long memories in Lisbon. Fans still remember Fernández celebrating a goal against Varzim, on January 10, by tapping the club badge and pointing to the turf, suggesting he would stay. Before the end of that month, Fernández would refuse the chance to see out the season at the club on loan — a compromise proposal by Chelsea. The deal was secured late on deadline day. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. 'His departure was inevitable but the way it all happened tarnished his history,' David Novo, the editor at Portuguese outlet Record, says. The events of that January add another layer of intrigue to this weekend's tie in Charlotte, North Carolina. Fernández will take to the field as one of Chelsea's most influential players. Considering his expensive outlay, it should be no surprise that 2½ years on he has a prominent standing at Stamford Bridge. But that has not been a given. It is almost a year now since Fernández filmed himself, along with his Argentina team-mates, singing a racist and homophobic chant about France players of African heritage and posted the video on Instagram. The fallout could have been severe. Wesley Fofana, Fernández's Chelsea team-mate, called the chanting 'uninhibited racism'. The Argentinian was unfollowed by the club's French players en masse. With the dressing room ruptured, a way back looked remote. There were two decisive weeks in July where Fernández saved face, apologising in public, on social media and privately. When he joined up with the squad in Atlanta, 15 days after winning the Copa America in Miami, he addressed his team-mates at the St Regis hotel and reiterated his contrition face to face. Fofana then addressed the matter with the media and was accepting. 'He did not understand when singing it,' Fofana said. 'I trust him because I know him. I know he is not racist. The act… I felt a little bit upset. But now, it is done. It is finished.' Case closed? Fifa said at the time that the matter was 'being looked into' but there has been no update on an investigation, which would be led by Conmebol, the South American football confederation. Conmebol has been approached for comment. Chelsea ended their own investigation though and moved on. But were these all empty words? Would Fernandez be able to re-establish himself? A month after the incident, he led Chelsea on the opening day of the season wearing the captain's armband. He would wear that armband 24 times in the Premier League. If the matter was still simmering in the dressing room, it did not show publicly. 'I can see his team-mates recognise him, like a reference, as a captain,' Maresca said of that decision. 'All of us make mistakes. It's important to recognise Enzo did a mistake, recognised the mistake and it's finished.' Former coach Mauricio Pochettino had suggested that, after a season of adaptation, the 2024-25 campaign would see the best of Fernández and, despite the controversy that hung over pre-season, that has proven to be the case. Revitalised by Maresca's repositioning, the Italian coach has tasked Fernández with making more box-crashing runs and becoming a goal threat. He has done that, increasing his number of touches in the opposition box from 52 to 85 year on year while contributing nine goals and 16 assists from 42 appearances this term. It is by far and away his best attacking return of his career. Now back in America, Fernández looks closer to a marquee player again, underlined by Real Madrid's interest this summer, which was put down swiftly. He faces his old club now promising to fulfil his potential, having side-stepped a shadow. Benfica, having profited from his journey, may feel the sharp edge of that on Saturday. Bank of America Stadium, CharlotteSaturday, kick-off 9pmTV DAZN
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
I went to Saudi for trophies, not money
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy says criticism that he and other footballers chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark. The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16million ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Afcon-winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him among the first players to win both that competition and its European like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the newly-rich Saudi Pro asked about such comments, Mendy told a joint-BBC Sport and BBC Africa interview: "Al-Ahli's project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play. "Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more."He added: "Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything - which was no longer the case at Chelsea."The Blues have since won the Uefa Conference League, Europe's third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. But it comes after the regime's trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich's stewardship in the previous 19 years. Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a "historical win" with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest's City Ground - but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win. He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds. Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of why Yakaar, a word meaning "hope", was chosen - a word Mendy has carried with him in his career."Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract. "Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of."Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career."Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him."Of course. When I was in England, there weren't many African goalkeepers in top clubs," he admitted."Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It's the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana (at Manchester United) or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal)."
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Chelsea fans accuse club of 'exploiting loyalty' as Premier League make contact
Chelsea have increased ticket prices by an average of 17 per cent in the last two seasons and the club's official supporters' group have vented their fury at the ownership, accusing them of alienating the core fanbase Chelsea fans have slammed a new ticket pricing strategy and accused the club of 'exploiting the loyalty of those people who are the lifeblood of the club.' The Chelsea Supporters' Trust says season ticket prices have increased by an average of 17 per cent in the last two years and members are angry at new booking fees, decreasing concessions and a £60 'priority' membership. They have now surveyed their members and the CST says it is joining the Football Supporters' Association's nationwide Stop Exploiting Loyalty campaign. A CST spokesperson said: 'Piece by piece, Chelsea FC is alienating a large part of our core fan base with decisions that will slowly force supporters to pick and choose which games they attend. 'The exploitation of members is also a worry, and we are deeply concerned that the increasingly bad deal that members have will negatively impact our club for generations to come. 'This should be a huge wake-up call to the owners and the senior leadership team within the club. Supporters are rejecting the decisions made by the club and are evidently unhappy with the current path being taken. 'Not only is it ethically wrong to exploit the loyalty of the lifeblood of our club, but it is strategically short-sighted and obliterates any trust or goodwill that had started to be built by recent positive initiatives.' The Premier League has already contacted Chelsea over complaints that a ticket resale company part-owned by co-owner Todd Boehly, Vivid Seats, was selling seats for sky high prices. Chelsea reported a pre-tax profit of £128.4m last year and could earn £97m from the Club World Cup. Less than 30 per cent of members thought prices were acceptable. The CST added: 'Despite record-breaking profits, Chelsea FC has broken its commitment to 'maximise all other revenue streams before increasing costs for supporters' by introducing a range of new policies that hit the pockets of loyal supporters. 'The CST has consistently warned the club that time after time they are making poor choices that infuriate supporters. This statistic is therefore really alarming and cannot be ignored.' Chelsea said recently they had consulted with the Fan Advisory Board and added: 'As a club, our priority is to ensure that we are making the right decisions for the long-term sustainability and success of the club.' Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Times
Premier League writes to Chelsea over Todd Boehly's ticket resale site
The Premier League has written to Chelsea to seek clarification over the club's position on ticket resales in light of Todd Boehly's ownership of the third-party ticketing website Vivid Seats. In March Chelsea supporters called on the Premier League to take action against Boehly, the club's chairman, for his ownership of the platform, which resells match tickets for thousands of pounds above their face value. Richard Masters, the Premier League's chief executive, confirmed during a meeting with the Football Supporters' Association that the league had written to Chelsea in light of the controversy. Boehly, who is part of the BlueCo consortium that owns Chelsea, is also a director of and investor in Vivid Seats, an American website that allows users based outside the UK to buy and sell tickets to concerts and sporting events. The Chelsea Supporters' Trust says Boehly has yet to respond to 'multiple opportunities' to address fans' concerns ROBBIE JAY BARRATT – AMA/GETTY IMAGES Vivid Seats was found to be selling Chelsea tickets at inflated prices, with seats for the club's home fixture against the champions Liverpool listed for up to £20,000. The platform is listed by the Premier League as an 'unauthorised ticket website', with the league urging fans to 'exercise extreme caution' when dealing with the site. It cannot be used by fans in Britain because it is illegal to resell tickets in this way in the UK. The Chelsea Supporters' Trust (CST) contacted the Premier League in March about the matter, while it also wrote to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy. 'As a director of Chelsea FC and part-owner, Mr Boehly's connection with Vivid Seats is totally inappropriate and significantly undermines the efforts of Chelsea FC, the Premier League, and the Metropolitan police to combat ticket touting,' the letter said. 'The CST firmly believes that it is now time for the Premier League to act and investigate.' The CST said it had given Boehly 'multiple opportunities' to address the fans' concerns but that neither the 51-year-old American nor his representatives had responded. Masters noted that the Premier League would respond to the CST after it had finished consultations with Chelsea. Chelsea and the Premier League have been approached for comment.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Premier League questions Chelsea over ‘unauthorised ticket seller' co-owned by Todd Boehly
The Premier League has demanded answers from Chelsea over the 'unauthorised' reselling of Premier League tickets by a website co-owned by Todd Boehly. In an open letter, the Chelsea Supporters' Trust requested in March that the English top tier act 'swiftly' in investigating club chairman Boehly's involvement in Vivid Seats. Richard Masters, the league's chief executive, has now confirmed at a Football Supporters' Association event that the competition had written to the club. According to minutes of the recent FSA event, Masters 'confirmed the PL [Premier League] had written to Chelsea to seek clarification on the club's position with the matter ongoing. RM [Masters] advised the PL would reply to CST [Chelsea Supporters' Trust] once the PL had concluded its discussions with the club.' Telegraph Sport first reported in February how Vivid Seats, a US-based online marketplace of which Boehly is both an investor and director, was allowing foreign-based users to buy and sell Premier League tickets for up to tens of thousands of pounds. Boehly has not been accused of any wrongdoing. CST had asked the league to 'act and investigate' the situation which they believe is both a 'breach of trust' and 'a clear conflict of interest'. The trust has also submitted evidence against the American company to the Government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Chelsea recently pledged to take action on ticket touting but did not name Vivid Seats or other ticket resellers. Vivid does not allow fans based in Britain to buy or sell tickets – the latter of which would be illegal – but its business model does raise the prospect of Chelsea co-owner Boehly profiting from the kind of activity his own club have repeatedly denounced. The CST wrote in its March letter to Masters: 'We have received a significant amount of correspondence from concerned CST members and supporters from the wider Chelsea FC fan base on this issue that cannot be ignored.' Boehly has not commented but Vivid Seats previously said in a statement: 'As a global business, we are always respectful and cognisant of local regulatory policies and procedures that are in place in any market to ensure we are compliant. As such, our policy restricts the sale of EPL tickets from UK sellers. We can confirm that we do not have any UK sellers listing EPL inventory on our marketplace. Additionally, Vivid Seats does not and has never directly marketed or advertised Premier League tickets to UK customers.' Boehly, a director and investor in Vivid, described as an 'unauthorised ticket seller' by the league, also owns a 13 per cent stake in Chelsea.
