After Mateo Kovacic‘s long-range goal doubled Manchester City’s advantage at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Chelsea owner Todd Boehly decided he had had enough. With a 2-0 victory, Pep Guardiola’s champions began their Premier League championship defense and dampened the start of Enzo Maresca’s reign.
Before Mateo Kovacic stung his old team by adding a second from distance with six minutes remaining, Erling Haaland used his strength and accuracy to open the score after eighteen minutes.
It doomed Maresca to defeat at the outset of a term greeted with widespread skepticism following the contentious dismissal of Mauricio Pochettino.
Boehly was present at Stamford Bridge when Chelsea began their second full season of play under the management of Clearlake Capital, an American private equity corporation.
However, cameras saw the 50-year-old quickly leave his box after Kovacic’s strike put the game beyond the hosts’ reach.
Without saying hello to anyone, he moved by his neighbors and hurried out the door, perhaps trying to beat the post-match traffic.
Alternatively, Todd Boehly might have remained at Stamford Bridge to work on Chelsea’s next summer transfer window acquisition.
According to reports, the Blues and Atletico Madrid are negotiating Joao Felix’s return. Conor Gallagher would finally be able to complete a trade to the La Liga giants if an agreement were reached.
Gallagher, an academy product and one of Chelsea’s top players the previous season, was banished from the senior training area at Cobham, and the club has come under fire for how they handled him.
When Boehly completed a £4.25 billion buyout of Chelsea in May 2022, he was met with harsh criticism regarding his management of the team.
He has been charged with extravagant expenditure after authorizing more than £1 billion for new players in less than two years.
Given Maresca’s glut of attacking players—Raheem Sterling and Romelu Lukaku were two of the biggest names left out of the matchday squad against City—there are questions about Felix’s possible arrival.
