Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf has launched a scathing critique of Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, asserting that they have had a detrimental impact on the club.
Despite an extravagant spending spree exceeding €1 billion on new signings since Roman Abramovich’s departure as owner in 2022, Chelsea has experienced a disappointing 12th-place finish in the Premier League last season and currently occupies the 11th position in the table this year.
In the aftermath of Mauricio Pochettino’s side’s perplexing 2-2 draw against 10-man Burnley on Saturday, Leboeuf condemned the club’s ownership for their role in Chelsea’s recent decline.
Speaking passionately to ESPN, the former Chelsea defender expressed his frustration with the board’s decision-making.
Leboeuf criticized, “I’m sorry, the people on the board destroyed that club. That’s what you have to face and how are you going to rebuild that? I don’t know, it’s going to take a long time but you have to change your way of thinking.
Stop the training business, buy some experienced players in the summer market otherwise you’re going to face the same problems next season.”
Expressing his exasperation, Leboeuf added, “I’m fed up, in fact. I’m fed up because you believe that something’s going to happen. You say, ‘Ok, the season is already over but you’re going to play against Burnley, they play 11 against ten so, they’re going to win.’ And they disappear, nothing happens.”
Highlighting the disappointment of Chelsea’s draw against Burnley, Leboeuf remarked, “You are 1-0 [up] at half-time, you come back and after three minutes you concede a goal, then you try to play a little bit, you score another goal.
You say, ‘Ok, well that’s fine,’ and then after it’s terrible and as you showed, they should have lost that game 11 against ten.”
Expressing his sympathy for the fans and the club’s heritage, Leboeuf stated, “Chelsea Football Club against, all due respect, Burnley, that’s the end of it, for me that’s the end of it. I want to congratulate the fans to be able to still go to Stamford Bridge to watch that, I mean come on. That’s not fair for the fans, that’s not fair for the history of Chelsea Football Club and for the former player that I am.”
In a subsequent development, Boehly is poised to resign as Chelsea chairman in 2027, in accordance with a prearranged agreement with Clearlake Capital.
