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When Chelsea were sold by chairmen Ken Bates in 2003 and bought by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, the football world didn’t quite know what to expect. Fast forward 18/19 years and Chelsea are under new ownership.

When Bates sold the West London club some 19 years ago he did so for financial reasons, but Russian billionaire Abramovich last year was forced to sell up due to political reasons. We are not politicians here, but what we are, are lovers and observers of the beautiful game.

It can be argued that with Chelsea’s mega spending under Roman, football in England wasn’t beautiful, but onlookers could only look in envy. Premier League titles were won as were two Champions League trophies and a Club World Cup in this pretty much two-decade-long period.

May 31st 2022, was officially the day the nearly two-decade-long ownership of Chelsea by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was over. Out with the old and in with the new for The Blues. The new for Chelsea was American owner Todd Boehly, who bought the club for £4.25 billion.

Boehly had a tough act to follow. On the pitch West London giants Chelsea were winning trophies domestically and in Europe, but the way they were run off the pitch was near impeccable.

Chelsea had a trusted team that was made up of former goalkeeper Petr Cech and Marina Graviskaia, who might not be known to some but who do know is one of the best negotiators in world football.

Todd Boehly had a settled base to work with in theory for building on the 2021 Champions League should be easy right? In reality, last season The Blues finished in the bottom half of the table, something they never did under Roman Abramovich in all of the 19 years he was there.

American owner Boehly spent £600 million on new players, something which the previous regime would have done, but they would have done so in a calculated method. The old Chelsea would buy a player and when it came to selling, they would make a tidy profit.

Juan Mata, David Luiz (the first time) and Romelu Lukaku (also the first time) are very good examples of this as well as goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Transfers like these which saw the club make a tidy profit is something that just hasn’t happened so far into the Boehly era, will it?

Sorry, to be the pessimist there’s no sign of it. Kalidou Koulibally and Christian Pulisic have been sold for £17 and £20 million respectively, which means The Blues have taken massive losses on both.

The previous regime never did this. This is the hallmark of Ed Woodward 2.0 at Manchester United and the current regime at Old Trafford. Chelsea take such losses on players, it’s unheard of.

Under Graviskaia, West London would make a tidy sum on unproven academy graduates when they get sold. Back to the topic of Pulisic and this to me sums up just how disjointed former Premier League champions Chelsea are.

The American cost in the region of £57 million, but yet AC Milan are going to sign him for a snip of that at £20 million. Pulisic’s teammate Ruben Loftus-Cheek I imagine also went for next to nothing.

If only Chelsea were savvy and knew when to walk away from deals. Marc Cucurella cost £60 million, yes you read that right. It can be argued that this is a new era and they will need time to adjust to life at Stamford Bridge.

This makes the decision to allow established football people to leave, ludicrous. Football fans will be happy the way the club is being run, but Chelsea want the old Chelsea back.

Would love to know your thoughts, do drop your thoughts in the comments.

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