Chelsea want to reduce their spending on player salaries by £80million ($100m) so they can afford to make improvements to Stamford Bridge.
According to the Financial Times, Chelsea has partnered with Ares Management and received a £404m investment. Since Todd Boehly took over, the club has spent almost £1 billion on player transfers and the wage bill has been increasing steadily with new signings.
There will be an attempt to reduce the wage bill, which currently stands at a minimum of £150m, by either selling or loaning out players in the upcoming transfer window.
“I think what we are trying to do is reduce the salary and essentially the opex [operating expenses] of the business by over $100m (£80.6m) per year,” said Clearlake’s co-founder Jose Feliciano at the IPEM private equity conference in Paris.
The owners of the club need money to renovate Stamford Bridge. They also want to invest in other clubs. That’s why they are taking this approach.
An insider who knows about Ares’ investment described it as a ‘preferred equity deal’ where former Chelsea director Mike Forde is believed to have played a major role in making this investment happen.
“We have bought an asset that is very coveted by many other potential buyers,” he added.
Stamford Bridge can hold around 40,000 fans, which is less than other stadiums like Arsenal (60,700), Tottenham (62,850), Man United (74,000), Liverpool (61,370), and Man City (53,400). The board is considering whether to upgrade the current stadium or build a new one at Earl’s Court. Some of the funding will also be used to rebuild Cobham, their training facility.
Boehly and his team are working hard to enhance Chelsea’s success off the field, while Pochetino faces the challenge of improving the team’s performance on the field. Unfortunately, Chelsea has only won once in their last five Premier League matches. They are eager to secure a victory when they face Aston Villa this Saturday.
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