Chelsea players 'left surprised' by Todd Boehly's decision at game with Crystal Palace

Chelsea players were said to have been "left surprised" by owner Todd Boehly earlier this season.

Boehly, who has spent close to £600 million since completing a £4.25bn takeover of the club, entered the Blues dressing room after the 2-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday and is said to have slammed the players, labelling the season "embarrassing".

He was joined Behdad Eghbali and Hansjorg Wyss and is reported to have pulled no punches in a rant about how the stars were massively underperforming.

One report claims that the American even singled out a "big-money player", who hasn't been named, and laid into him.

But earlier in the campaign, Chelsea players are believed to have taken issue with a decision from Boehly.

One of the Blues' misfiring additions has been £88 million Mykhailo Mudryk, who has managed just two assists in 12 games in a difficult start to life in west London.

Chelsea beat Arsenal to the former Shakhtar Donetsk man's signature and he was officially unveiled as a new player ahead of the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in January.

Image: Alamy

Yet prior to that, he and his advisors were allowed in the dressing before the game. As per the Daily Mail, that didn't go down too well some players and staff as pre-match preparations were interrupted.

The same story claims a slew of Chelsea players are considering their futures after a dismal season.

Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals by holders Real Madrid after a 4-0 aggregate defeat over the two legs.

And following a fourth consecutive loss for interim boss Frank Lampard, Thiago Silva gave a remarkably honest interview about the messy situation at the club.

He opened up about the sheer amount of players in the squad and called for the players to take more responsibility for not producing on the pitch.

Image: Alamy

"We can't be blaming managers if we don't take responsibility," he told beIN Sports.

"It's a hard period for the club with a lot of indecision: change of ownership, new players arriving. We had to increase the size of the changing room because it didn't fit the size of the squad.

"A positive point is that there are amazing players in the squad but on the other hand there are always players that are going to be unhappy. There is always going to be someone upset because not everyone can play.

"The manager can only pick 11 from a squad of 30-something – that’s tough. Some can’t make the squad, we signed eight in January, we need to stop and put a strategy in place otherwise next season we could make the same mistakes.

"Everybody talks too much about replacing managers. I think we, as players, must also take responsibility. We have had three managers this season, plus a fourth with Bruno where we failed to win.

"We have lost today and with Lampard we have failed to win. Everybody is talking about the manager but we must look at what has been done wrong and try to change."

Image: Alamy

Chelsea are not in action this weekend due to Manchester United playing in the FA Cup semi final against Brighton, but will host Brentford in a crunch clash on Wednesday.

Topics: Chelsea, Premier League, Todd Boehly

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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