As Chelsea close in on piping Manchester City to the acquisition of Marc Cucurella, former Manchester United player, Gary Neville had lashed out at new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly’s approach in the ongoing transfer window comparing it to popular video game, Football Manager. Neville said this whilst speaking on “The Overlap Live Fan Debate with Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.”
Now, the new transfer approach by Chelsea FC is odd to say the least taking into consideration the rapid manner transfer incomings have been in the past under previous ownership but, having said that, Gary is off with the comparison with Football Manager as many would argue that the FIFA series would be much better to describe Mr Boehly’s transfer approach.
With Petr Cech, Marina Granovskai, and Bruce Burke gone, Todd Boehly has little option than to act aggressively with incomings. Boehly has been the public figure to the consortium; Clearlake Capital and collaboration with Behdad Eghbali are part of the new setup acting on behalf of Thomas Tuchel to conduct business for the London side.
“…you hear his name (Todd Boehly) too much and he’s too prominent. You look at what Manchester City and Liverpool are doing, (Txiki) Begiristain at City is their sporting director. Some people might not even know that. Some people do know that, but some people never even hear him, never even see him but they get their business done quickly and efficiently”, Gary Neville said while speaking on Boehly’s transfer’s approach.
All that Gary Neville has said is true, arguably Todd Boehly will likely not be too concerned. Note that Chelsea are still in search of a striker and with the recent acquisitions of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly, and imminent arrivals of Marc Cucurella and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Chelsea are making moves in the transfer window which is precisely what the new ownership group is aiming to achieve.
Neville added: “When clubs are working well, you don’t hear who’s signing the players, you just sign them. Chelsea have got that sort of, Manchester United under the Glazers, Ed Woodward, ’I’m taking over, I’m the man now, ‘I’m going to go out and buy the players, and then they’re linked with every player that Barcelona wants, every player that City want, every player that United want. They’re almost like bouncing around because it feels like he [Todd Boehly] has to do something.”
Not so fast Mr. Neville, London neighbors Arsenal are singing the praises of Edu who is now well known across the whole of England after recent deals for Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchencko. This proves the fact that, regardless of the approach of a club, deals will be made, and however valid Gary Neville’s argument about the approach of the American businessman is, Chelsea FC will do all their possible best to get players to Stamford Bridge as soon as possible.
“I’m hearing his name too much. It feels like, it’s not to be disrespectful, you know he’s a prominent guy, he’s just bought the club and everything. He’s fronted a fund that’s paid £2.5billion, but to get rid of all that football operation that’s been unbelievable for that many years and come in and do it yourself, it does feel like Ed Woodward that to me. We’ll see it develop”, Gary Neville added.
This seems like a fair criticism, but in Mr. Boehly’s defense, he is a businessman for a living, and getting rid of officials of the previous regime seems like a calculated risk. Only time will tell if his gamble and approach will pay off, Thomas Tuchel and Blue’s fans will certainly hope it does.
