This week, as he prepared to lead Benfica against the Blues in the UEFA Champions League, the Portuguese tactician was asked to share his thoughts on Chelsea’s current state under Todd Boehly’s ownership.

For Mourinho, it has been a journey of mixed impressions.

“Honestly, I don’t know the model. There was a set period when even myself, from the outside in, cast some question marks over it because it looked like Chelsea had lost their identity as a club,” he admitted.

But according to the two-time Chelsea boss, things have shifted in the right direction. He credited Enzo Maresca for stabilising the team and restoring belief. “What happened in the last season got things back on track. They gave trust to Enzo Maresca and he brought his ideas. He’s fitted in well with the philosophy,” Mourinho explained.

Reflecting on Chelsea’s recent silverware, Mourinho pointed to the UEFA Conference League and the expanded FIFA Club World Cup as crucial confidence boosters. “The Conference League is made for a big club to win it. I did it with Roma. It’s quite an easy competition to win with a big club.

As for the Club World Cup, I have always said the Champions League is more important but take nothing away [from this win]. That [gold] badge means a lot. It’s the first time a club has won [the expanded] Club World Cup. Congratulations to them,” he said.

For Mourinho, these victories have helped rebuild trust within the fanbase. “Winning these trophies gives everyone a base of trust and confidence, even at supporter level. I feel it. I live five minutes away and my son comes every weekend to the stadium. And the feeling is completely different after the Club World Cup. It was a period of disappointment and doubt, but now it’s one of optimism. I think Chelsea is back on track.”

Chelsea lifted both the UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup last season, their first trophies since Boehly’s takeover. With Mourinho predicting optimism around Stamford Bridge, fans will now hope that momentum carries into the current campaign as the Blues chase more silverware.

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Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has shed light on the club’s long-term vision, which includes the possibility of constructing a new stadium outside of Stamford Bridge.

Speaking in an interview during his visit to Hong Kong, Boehly outlined the idea of building a modern, multi-purpose venue similar to Tottenham Hotspur’s state-of-the-art arena, which accommodates various events beyond football. However, he did not confirm whether the club would redevelop Stamford Bridge or relocate to a new site entirely.

The American businessman acknowledged the challenges of building within London and stressed that Chelsea supporters would play a crucial role in the decision-making process.

Boehly stated:
“I think that’s going to be where we’re either aligned or we ultimately decide to go different ways. What’s been written and talked about is much more ‘drama’ than what is actually happening. You know, sporting infrastructure. We’re just on the very front end of the sporting wave and sporting infrastructure is going to be a big thing about it.”

“We have 16, 20 years to figure out, you know, obviously, inside of London, it’s really complex. It’s not as if we’re building something in the middle of a rural environment. We have a lot of constituencies to make sure that we care about. Certainly, the Chelsea fanbase is one. Long-term, we’re going to be building something new and we’ll figure it out.”

Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s historic home, officially opened as a sporting venue on April 28, 1877. Originally built for the London Athletic Club, it primarily hosted athletics events until 1904 before becoming Chelsea’s home ground.

Despite Boehly’s comments, there is still no concrete information regarding when a new stadium might be built or what specific plans Chelsea fans can expect.

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Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has claimed he likes seeing the team’s owners visit their dressing rooms after games.

Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly, the other co-owners of the Blues, are said to have talked to the team following the team’s most recent 1-0 loss to Aston Villa.

Fans are split at Eghbali’s unexpected visit, but Pochettino reassured them that he had no issues with owners being in the locker room.

“I like when the owners come,” he told Tuesday’s press conference. “In all my career at Espanyol, Southampton, with Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain.

“I think it’s good that the owner came to the dressing room, it’s the way in which they approach the players is most important. If they are in a good way and the correct way, they are very welcome. After my press conference, after all of the media, the game against Aston Villa, they came and shared with us.

“They also did it with Liverpool and Luton and Nottingham Forest. They came with Paul [Winstanley] and Laurence [Stewart, co-sporting directors], Behdad and sometimes Todd also and we talk about the game. I don’t see in a bad way. For me it’s good always if they share with us and then can say hello to the players. If they came for a speech, that is different. In the way they came, they are very welcome. They own the club, I think they can do what they want.

“They are in a very good way, we are glad they shared time with us. When we win and it’s good things, and to share when we are suffering like on Sunday.”

The Carabao Cup match between Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion is on Wednesday, so Pochettino’s attention is now on instilling confidence in a Blues team that has dropped to 14th in the Premier League.

“Confidence in one aspect is to score goals,” he began. “We need to be more natural.

“When you watch the game and every single time to create chances, it’s not only about your positional game, your movement, if you play with one or two strikers, or different characteristics of the game, it’s most important to be natural. In all the aspects, the team show confidence and belief in the way we play, how we build and our organisation when we don’t have the ball because we don’t concede too many goals and too many chances. Always in an offensive way we need to be more natural.

“We were talking a lot in the last two days and we are going to work hard and remain positive. The idea when you start the season and plan the objective and the squad, always you think in the very best scenario for the team. For different circumstances we are not in the very best situation. The important thing is to have experience and to keep calm and to keep working. The most important thing is to identify the problem. The problem is we are not clinical in front of the goal. We are only missing that, if not, for sure we are talking in a different way.”

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The Ecuadorian international finished his medical on Monday after the Blues and Brighton reached an agreement on a deal that may reach £115 million on Sunday.

Caicedo joins on an eight-year deal with an option of a further year in place, having turned down Liverpool who had also come to an agreement with the Seagulls.

The Blues have reached an initial agreement for £100 million, with an additional £15 million in add-ons. According to club sources, the fee will likely equal what was paid for Enzo Fernandez in January, with half of the add-ons proving challenging to secure.

Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital secured their control of the club in May 2022, spending on transfers has surpassed £800 million thanks to Chelsea’s most significant acquisition of the summer.

Liverpool had a £111 million offer approved for Caicedo last Thursday, but they were unable to persuade him to relocate to Anfield. The Ecuadorian international has always preferred to sign with Chelsea, who will pay £100 million plus an additional £15 million in performance-related add-ons.

Additionally, Brighton has a sell-on clause for a player they signed on February 1, 2021, for an undisclosed sum that is believed to be £4.5 million, from the Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle.

Chelsea made Caicedo their top priority for the defensive midfield position, but Brighton turned down many offers from them. It took weeks for an agreement to be reached after a £70 million bid was turned down in the middle of July.

The decision is a continuation of Brighton’s track record of making substantial gains in the transfer market. For instance, last summer they sold Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool for £35 million after purchasing him for around £7 million, while previous summer Chelsea spent £55 million for Marc Cucurella, who cost £15.5 million to join.

Chelsea is competing with Liverpool to capture Southampton midfielder Roméo Lavia before they do. Although Chelsea, who are willing to pay £50 million plus add-ons, have agreed to a £60 million agreement, the Belgian international would want to sign with them.

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UEFA has fined Chelsea €10 million (£8.6 million, $11 million) for prior violations of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

The Premier League team provided incomplete financial data on transactions that happened between 2012 and 2019 when it was still under Roman Abramovich’s ownership.

According to UEFA, Chelsea’s new owners, a group led by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, who took over the club in May 2022, made the organization aware of previous instances of inaccurate financial reporting.

Chelsea won’t face any more athletic penalties as a result of the €10 million fine. The West London team, which placed 12th in the Premier League in 2022–23, will not be participating in any European competitions for the upcoming season.

The Club Financial Control Body (CFCB), an independent panel inside UEFA that has investigative and adjudicatory arms and is responsible for enforcing FFP and making sure the rules are implemented, oversaw the case.

A UEFA statement read: “With respect to Chelsea FC the CFCB First Chamber concluded that the club breached the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations as a result of submitting incomplete financial information.

“Following the club’s sale in May 2022, the new ownership identified, and proactively reported to UEFA, instances of potentially incomplete financial reporting under the club’s previous ownership. The reported matters related to historical transactions which took place between 2012 and 2019.

“Following its assessment, including the applicable statute of limitations, the CFCB First Chamber entered into a settlement agreement with the club which has agreed to pay a financial contribution of €10million to fully resolve the reported matters.”

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Chelsea have confirmed the signing of striker Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal.

The Senegalese striker is the Blues’ second signing under new manager Mauricio Pochettino and has committed to a long-term deal at Stamford Bridge.

The Argentine boss has already signed former RB Leipzig attacker Christopher Nkunku for £52 million.

Following Todd Boehly’s £600m splurge last season, Chelsea have chosen for a summer clear out, parting ways with the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, N’Golo Kante, Kalidou Kouilbaly, and Mason Mount.

Speaking about Jackson, Chelsea’s co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said: ‘We are excited to welcome Nicolas to Chelsea.’ 

They went on to add: ‘Jackson is a young player with big potential, as he showcased for Villarreal last season.

‘We believe he is ready for this next step in his career and look forward to him working with our new head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, and his Chelsea teammates.’

… Nic Jackson! 💙 pic.twitter.com/IRFcrXnXf6

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) June 30, 2023

The 21-year-old, who has twice represented Senegal, scored 13 goals in his breakout season with Spanish club Villarreal last year.

The Yellow Submarine finished fifth in the La Liga rankings thanks to Jackson’s nine goals in his last eight matches.

Jackson will try to relieve Chelsea’s goal-scoring woes, as the Blues managed just 38 goals in the Premier League last year.

The 21-year-old will attack with players like Christopher Nkunku, a former RB Leipzig forward who was signed earlier this week.

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Ziyech and Koulibaly are just two of the players that are available for transfer as Chelsea looks to raise cash this summer in order to pay off debt from the previous two spending sprees and fund more projects for this year.

When Blues co-owner Todd Boehly recently travelled to Saudi Arabia for discussions with a number of football officials, one of the subjects of discussion was the availability of Chelsea’s peripheral players.

Ziyech will be the first Chelsea player to travel to the Middle East this summer, according to sources who spoke with 90min after the Saudi leadership pushed swiftly in this direction.

Ziyech has reached an agreement on a three-year contract to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, and he will soon get a medical before signing the contract.

Regarding Koulibaly, negotiations for a transfer to Al-Hilal are continuing. The former Napoli centre-back has declined a permanent deal to Saudi Arabia in favour of returning on loan to Serie A.

A three-year contract through 2026 is also on the table for the 31-year-old, and a deal regarding personal terms is almost ready to be finalized.

The representatives of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and attacker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are still being talked to by Saudi officials in other locations. Neither player has an agreement in place just yet, but according to sources close to Chelsea, the Blues are certain that both will go for Saudi Arabia.

Callum Hudson-Odoi has also been considered, although he is not currently interested in moving to the Middle East. Romelu Lukaku has been targeted but is eager to stay in Europe.

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Chelsea have confirmed the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as the club’s new first-team head coach.

The former manager of Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur has agreed to a two-year deal with the club, with Chelsea holding the option for an additional year.

The men’s squad will have Mauricio Pochettino as their head coach commencing with the 2023–24 season, the Chelsea Football Club is happy to announce.

Pochettino is a coach known for the high-energy and captivating style of his teams, and he has developed a reputation for assisting young players in reaching their full potential with a strong collective mentality.

The 51-year-old has coached in Spain and France in addition to numerous seasons of Premier League experience. He most recently served as manager of Paris Saint-Germain, when he led the team to Ligue 1 and Coupe de France championships.

Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez, and Sebastiano Pochettino will be on Mauricio’s staff.

Speaking to the club’s official website after announcing the appointment, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, Chelsea’s co-sporting directors, said:

‘Mauricio’s experience, standards of excellence, leadership qualities and character will serve Chelsea Football Club well as we move forward.  He is a winning coach, who has worked at the highest levels, in multiple leagues and languages. His ethos, tactical approach and commitment to development all made him the exceptional candidate.’

Club owners Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali, José E. Feliciano, Mark Walter and Hansjörg Wyss said:

‘The sporting team conducted a diligent and thoughtful process that the Board is proud of. We are delighted that Mauricio will be joining Chelsea. Mauricio is a world-class coach with an outstanding track record. We are all looking forward to having him on board.’

Chelsea Football Club is pleased to announce Mauricio Pochettino as the club’s new head coach!

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 29, 2023

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Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has broken his silence on Chelsea’s disastrous 2022/23 campaign under his management.

Under the new ownership, the Blues had a disastrous first season, going through three different managers (Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, and current interim manager Frank Lampard).

With five games remaining, Chelsea is only nine points above the relegation zone, which means they are still not assured a spot in the Premier League next season.

Boehly asserted that the new owners of Chelsea will ‘figure it out’ and return the team to the top of the Premier League in an interview with Milken Institute chairman Michael Milken.

He said: “The fans are demanding. You know they want to win and we get that we want to win. I think our view though was that this is a long-term project and you know we’re committed to the long-term.

“We very much believe that we’re going to figure it out. We’ve got the best league in the world, we’ve got what I think is the top city in the world and we’ve got an unbelievable location in the top city in the world.

“Winning is just the best feeling there is. You have to build a team and obviously the coach is the conductor of the team. So I think there is a lot we have learned.”

Chelsea can move a step closer to Premier League survival with a win over in-form Bournemouth on Saturday.

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Following the Blues’ most recent loss to Arsenal, Cesar Azpilicueta appeared to take a dig at Chelsea owner Todd Boehly by referring to “off-the-pitch” things.

The Blues suffered their sixth straight loss under Frank Lampard on Tuesday night at the Emirates as the title challengers Arsenal defeated them 3-1.

With goals from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard, Chelsea fell behind 3-0 inside 34 minutes. However, the Blues improved in the second half, and Noni Madueke pulled one goal back after an hour.

Azpilicueta, the team’s captain and the player who started in place of Reece James, acknowledged that they were “passive” in the first half and spoke of working on “off the pitch” issues, which might be a jab at Chelsea owner Boehly.

“It’s the worst run since I’ve been at the club. We’re the ones playing on the pitch and we have to turn this around. It’s hard for everybody and we have to come through these moments. Off the pitch we have a lot of things to work on,” he stated after the match to Sky Sports.

“The first half we were quite passive. We know they are a dangerous team and will bring a lot of people forward but we should’ve done better with the ball. In the second half we showed a bit of a reaction, in the first half we were far from there.

It’s tough for everybody, we’re not in a good position. The reality is what we have now. We have to go through it. We are all disappointed, the fans at the club. We have to take responsibility and that’s the only way. It’s very hard, we didn’t expect to be here but that’s where we are. We have five games left, we have to show positive energy and win games,” he added.

Chelsea spent about £600 million on transfers since Boehly’s consortium took over the club from Roman Abramovich last summer. They also paid a record fee to hire Graham Potter after sacking Thomas Tuchel but the coach did not last the full season after Chelsea won just 12 of the matches they played under the ex-Brighton boss, losing 11.

Now the club is staring at mass clear-out to balance their books and meet Financial Fair Play regulations following a loss of £121 million ($149m) in the club’s annual accounts for 2021-22.

Chelsea is currently in 12th place after losing to Arsenal, making a top-four finish unlikely. When they play Bournemouth next on Saturday in the Premier League, they will try to regain some of their damaged pride.

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Frank Lampard has addressed Mason Mount’s future after confirming the Liverpool-linked midfielder is set to miss the rest of the season.

Mount has had many conversations with Chelsea’s upper management but has not yet agreed to a contract extension with his previous team.

The midfielder will most likely not play any more this season amid concerns about his future because he will be having surgery to correct a pelvic issue.

Despite his injury problems, Mount has attracted plenty of interest from teams as he is strongly connected with familiar rivals Liverpool, with Arsenal, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich also ramping up their efforts to sign the player.

When Lampard was asked if Mount has played his last game for Chelsea, he replied: “I don’t know the answer to that, it’s a conversation between Mason and the club, so I don’t know. It’s not final at this point and we’ll have to see because those conversations are ongoing.”

“It’s a shame for me personally because I think everyone knows how I feel about working with Mason and I like to think he feels the same about me, and we could have done with him in the games we’ve played already this season. But the bigger picture is something that’s going to become clearer in the next weeks and months, and that will be the club and Mason together having conversations.”

Lampard made it clear that he is not involved in the negotiations and is in no position to impact the decision of the player or the club. “At this point, it’s not my opinion that will be the resolution. It will be the opinion of the club and the opinion of Mason, so that’s between them. I think my opinion is pretty clear, I don’t need to spell out what I think of Mason as a player, but it’s not my one to get into, that’s between them,” he added.

The interim manager also defended Mount’s drop in form and insisted that the England international continues to be one of the best players in his position.

“There’s no doubt Mason is a top-class player with what he brings the team in and out of possession,” said Lampard. “Form will always waver slightly but the top players manage to gain great consistency and he’s been Chelsea Player of the Year in a couple of seasons with a lot of top players around him. People think it’s easy to play with top players around you. It’s not easy and he’s managed to do that.”

According to reports, Todd Boehly has spoken with Mount personally to persuade him to stay at Stamford Bridge. The player, whose current contract is slated to end in 2024, has rejected all attempts to reach a contract agreement because he wants a long-term agreement while the Blues are only interested in one or two-year deals.

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