Todd Boehly: Chelsea owner admits mistakes after being SLAMMED by Thiago Silva

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 21 Apr 2023 11:43 BST
• 4 min read

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has admitted that he's made mistakes during his first year at a club after receiving criticism from Blues defender Thiago Silva in the wake of their Champions League exit to Real Madrid.

Boehly, 49, was speaking at a private event at Stamford Bridge and told a room of bankers and associates that mistakes have been made since he took over as Chelsea owner in 2022, according to Bloomberg UK.

Unnamed sources revealed that Boehly did not admit what mistakes have been made during his tenure at an event designed to hear him discuss Chelsea's plans for next season.

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The American billionaire has spent over €600 million on players since arriving at the club, while senior figures such as Marina Granovskaia, Bruce Buck and Petr Cech all left their roles upon his arrival.

Furthermore, Champions League winning boss Thomas Tuchel was sacked just weeks into the season, before his replacement, Graham Potter, also lost his job in early April.

Current interim boss Frank Lampard is the fourth man to take charge of Chelsea this season, after Bruno Saltor enjoyed a one game stint at the helm following Potter's sacking, and the Blues are 11th in the Premier League table following a dismal run of results.

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They remain winless under Lampard, with four defeats and just one goal scored since he was appointed on 6 April.

What did Thiago Silva say?

Following the Blues' 4-0 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, Thiago Silva slammed Boehly and the Chelsea board for their decisions over the past year.

In a brutally honest interview, Silva said: "I think the first step has been made, an incorrect step, but it has been made. We can’t be blaming the managers if we don’t take responsibility. 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."

Chelsea have signed 16 players since Boehly replaced Roman Abramovich as owner, while the American remains the Blues' interim sporting director after not replacing the departed Granovskaia.

Enzo Fernandez (€121m), Wesley Fofana (€80m), Mykhailo Mudryk (€70m), Marc Cucurella (€65m), Raheem Sterling (€56m), Benoit Badiashile (€38m), Kalidou Koulibaly (€38m), Noni Madueke (€35m), Malo Gusto (€30m), Carney Chukwuemeka (€18m), Andrey Santos (€12m), Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (€12m), David Datro Fofana (€12m), Joao Felix (€11m loan fee), Gabriel Slonina (€9m), and Denis Zakaria (€3m loan fee) are the 16 players to have joined Chelsea since Boehly became owner.