Todd Boehly admits he only signed player for Chelsea because rivals wanted him

Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly has admitted he signed one player purely because a rival was interested as well.

Back in 2022, Boehly, along with the likes of Mark Walter, Hansjorg Wyss and Clearlake Capital, took over Chelsea, under a consortium known as BlueCo.

Following the departure of former owner Roman Abramovich, there were huge changes to the Chelsea hierarchy, with the likes of Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech also leaving the club.

As a result, Boehly acted as the interim sporting director from June 2022 up until January 2023.

During the summer of 2022, Chelsea spent big money to bring in players such as Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei.

Meanwhile, the likes of Timo Werner, Emerson and Billy Gilmour departed Stamford Bridge.

Speaking recently, Boehly admitted that he had 'no idea' on what makes a good football player during his time as interim sporting director.

The American went on to reveal that the decision to spend £60 million on full-back Cucurella was influenced by interest from Manchester City.

Boehly said to iConnections: "The whole management team left.

"I was stuck being interim sporting director for a summer, having no idea what made a good football player, but knowing that Marc Cucurella, if Man City wants him, I want him."

He added: "It was really simple that way."

Marc Cucurella was linked with Manchester City before signing for Chelsea. Image: Getty

Cucurella, 27, has since made 148 appearances across all competitions for the Blues, scoring nine goals.

The Spaniard has also won the UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup.

On the international stage, Cucurella was part of the Spain squad that won the UEFA European Championship in 2024. He was the player who assisted Mikel Oyarzabal's late winner against England in the final.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea's match against Arsenal, Liam Rosenior revealed that Cucurella will not be available for selection.

He said: "I can’t give an exact timeframe on Marc. He suffered a hamstring injury just before half-time in the Leeds game. It's a real shame because he's an outstanding player, and one of the best left-backs in the world.

"It’s a shame not to have Marc available but we have Jorrel [Hato] and we have Malo [Gusto] who can play on that side, so we have really good players that can cover."