Chelsea owner Todd Boehly could emulate Manchester City by buying feeder clubs to develop young players: Reports
Chelsea are reportedly interested in imitating Premier League champions Manchester City by setting up a network of feeder clubs all around the globe to develop young talent elsewhere.
City Football Group (CFG), who are the owners of Manchester City, has invested heavily in various clubs. While CFG has stakes in Palermo, Girona, Lommel, and Troyes in Europe, the company has links with New York City, Melbourne City, Montevideo City, Mumbai City, Sichuan Jiuniu, and Yokohama F. Marinos on other continents.
Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly and his board of directors are also envisioning a similar plan. After the appointment of Graham Potter as the club's new head coach, Boehly is now interested in revamping the whole structure, including the youth setup, at Stamford Bridge.
Graham Potter and his coaching staff are in the building ✅ https://t.co/3N2O2lOtrF
According to The Sun, Chelsea are keen to extend their scouting and development across Europe and eventually wider by investing in continental clubs. The club hierarchy aims to nurture the best talent from the feeder clubs and bring them into the first-team squad in London.
The potential move is also seemingly aimed at reducing the club's extensive loan program, which has facilitated temporary deals for 23 players in the 2022-23 season itself. Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Malang Sarr are some of the standout names among them.
On the other hand, Boehly is on the hunt for a new sporting director to help Potter handle the ongoing transition and squad overhaul. As per the aforementioned report, Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards is currently on the radar of the west London outfit.
Meanwhile, Boehly has also held talks with PSG advisor Luis Campos, as per The Times. The new ownership is interested in appointing a new sporting director before the start of the winter transfer window.
Todd Boehly has held talks with Luis Campos, as first reported by @TimesSport. Campos is effectively freelance despite being football advisor to PSG. He's also employed by Celta. Protection clauses in Campos' PSG contract prevent him working for another big club in parallel.
Will Graham Potter's arrival at Chelsea alter Romelu Lukaku situation at the club?
Chelsea loaned out Romelu Lukaku this summer after he failed to deliver at the club last season. The Belgian forward, who is also a club-record signing, scored only 15 goals in 44 games for the Blues in their last campaign.
He failed to get along with Thomas Tuchel but the situation could now change with Graham Potter in charge.
However, speaking on his YouTube channel, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claimed that Inter Milan are interested in retaining the services of Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku for one more season.
He said:
"The feeling at Inter is that the [Thomas] Tuchel sack story is not going to change the situation around Lukaku. They feel that they will have a chance to keep Lukaku for one more year at least on loan also for season 2023-2024, but it has to be negotiated with Chelsea."
He added:
"They already discussed it when they built the one-year loan deal, so let's see if Graham Potter will decide to change the situation. But Inter are absolutely happy with Lukaku and optimistic that they can keep him long term because there is an important point: Lukaku only wants Inter as of today."
Lukaku has scored once in three matches for Inter this season. It remains to be seen what happens with the Belgian forward come next summer.