New Chelsea owner Todd Boehly says his vision for the club is simply to make the fans proud, as his takeover of the Blues is officially confirmed.
The £4.25bn purchase of Chelsea from Roman Abramovich by the consortium led by Boehly was finally completed on Monday afternoon.
The west club was put up for sale in March after Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government over his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin following the invasion of earlier this year.
Since then, Chelsea have been operating under a special license which was due to expire on 31 May – with Monday’s deal rubberstamped just in time to beat the deadline.
The consortium also includes Clearlake Capital Group, and billionaires Hansjorg Wyss and Mark Walter, but is led by LA Dodgers owner Boehly.
The American is quick to try and impress the fans, saying he is in London to make them proud with success on the field, planning to invest in new players and develop homegrown talent.
A statement from Boehly read: ‘We are honoured to become the new custodians of Football Club. We’re all in – 100 per cent – every minute of every match.
‘Our vision as owners is clear: we want to make the fans proud. Along with our commitment to developing the youth squad and acquiring the best talent, our plan of action is to invest in the Club for the long-term and build on Chelsea’s remarkable history of success.
‘I personally want to thank ministers and officials in the British government, and the Premier League, for all their work in making this happen.’
Clearlake co-founders and managing partners, Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano, said, added: ‘We are excited to commit the resources to continue Chelsea’s leading role in English and global football, and as an engine for football talent development.
‘We also want to thank the authorities for all their work throughout the process. As pioneers in sports and media investing, we are thrilled to partner with Todd and the rest of the consortium to meaningfully grow the Club as a global platform.
‘Together, we will expand the Club’s investment across infrastructure, technology, and sports science to support the incredible Chelsea football and commercial teams – all with the goal of leveraging this growth to fuel even more on-pitch success.’
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