Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has conceded that ‘mistakes were made’ during his first year at the helm of the Blues.
Boehly, alongside Clearlake Capital, completed a deal to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich ahead of the current campaign, and the group have since invested close to £600m on players to try and rejuvenate the squad.
The results, however, have fallen well short. Chelsea are out of every cup competition and are down in 11th in the Premier League, having sacked two permanent managers and gone through a further two on a temporary basis.
According to Bloomberg, Boehly spoke at a meeting with bankers and business associates shortly after Chelsea’s Champions League elimination, during which he admitted that ‘mistakes had been made’ during his first year.
No further details are given about the event, which was held to give Boehly the chance to speak about his plans for his second season at Chelsea.
News of Boehly’s admission comes shortly after veteran centre-back Thiago Silva called for a clearer plan to be put in place after a year of major uncertainty from top to bottom at Stamford Bridge.
90min understands that Boehly is still keen to spend money this summer, with Napoli striker Victor Osimhen at the top of his wish list, and there is a confidence that a deal for the Nigerian can still be struck even though Chelsea appear set to miss out on European football next season.
That being said, selling players is also high on the list of priorities and there are plenty of names in line for possible exits this summer.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tops the list of players who can leave this summer, while decisions wil also have to be made on the vast number of players facing uncertain futures: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Cesar Azpilicueta, Marc Cucurella, Trevoh Chalobah, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Raheem Sterling and Hakim Ziyech.
Deals have already been agreed to add Christopher Nkunku and Malo Gusto to the bloated squad, adding to the urgency with which Chelsea must agree to sales.