"Clueless idiot" "A complete weapon" - Chelsea owner Todd Boehly gets ripped apart for embarrassing Mo Salah and Kevin De Bruyne claim

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has been mocked for his comments regarding the club's youth academy after he mistakenly claimed they had produced Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah.

The Blues' new American owner boasted about the players that graduated from the youth team at the SALT press conference. He stated (as per The Mail):

"We have one of the best academies in the world. If you look at what our academy has developed, our academy is Mo Salah, Kevin De Bruyne. More recently, Tammy Abraham, Reece James, Mason Mount, Trevoh Chalobah."

"We have 10 or 11 players right now that are either on loan and controlled by us, we have the right to buy them back, or they're playing for our team or academy."

Boehly was correct about the four English players he mentioned who graduated from Cobham. However, fans were quick to point out his mistake regarding De Bruyne and Salah.

Todd Boehly : “We’ve got the best women’s team in the world, we’ve got one of the best academies in the world, our academy is Mo Salah, De Bruyne, Tammy Abraham, Reece James, Mason Mount, Chalobah” (@SALTConference)

In fact, Chelsea bought De Bruyne from Genk in 2012 for £7 million before he was sold to Wolfsburg in January of 2015. Meanwhile, Salah had already made over 100 senior appearances for Al Mokawloon and FC Basel before making the switch to Stamford Bridge in 2013.

While Chelsea did decide to sell the pair, who would go on to become two of the world's best, at a young age, they certainly did not come through the youth academy. Following Boehly's claim, fans were quick to jump on the statement on Twitter, which they dismissed as nonsense.

Here are some of the reactions:

#𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗡𝗬 has got a bit of everything.

#ChelseaFC chairman Todd Boehly offers a fascinating glimpse into his global vision for the English Premier League club. https://t.co/wa9aBHuGKe

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly: "We have one of the best academies in the world. Salah, De Bruyne..."

Mo Salah was signed from Basel and Kevin De Bruyne was signed from Genk.

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ https://t.co/JTaDUbrkjO

Todd Boehly:

"We have one of the best academies in the world. Salah, De Bruyne, Abraham, James, Mount, Chalobah - 10/11 players right now that are either on loan, we have the right to buy them back, playing for our team or academy."

[via @SALTConference]

When a new owner gets something like this so wrong, alarm bells ring. Salah & De Bruyne were not Chelsea academy players. Salah won 2 Swiss titles at Basel, KdB a Belgian champion at Genk. They cost a total of £20m. Todd Boehly can't make these claims & be considered serious. twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/…

Adding Salah and De Bruyne to our Academy boys by Boehly tells you simply that this man has a declined knowledge about our Academy players. https://t.co/ZusNPDvbMi

Todd Boehly said Mo Salah and Kevin De Bruyne are Chelsea academy products 😭 😭

Todd Boehly said that Chelsea has Salah and De Bruyne from the academy. Salah was bought from Basel and De Bruyne was bought from Genk😂. If you want to own a football club, you should have at least a little football knowledge

De bruyne and salah had 97 and 90 professional appearances before chelsea bought them.

Boehly is a fucking embarrassment twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/…

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp unimpressed by Chelsea owner's idea of all-star game

Boehly, who is part owner of MLB team LA Dodgers and two basketball teams in LA, also suggested the idea of an annual clash between the best players from England.

The encounter would see the best players from the north take on their counterparts in the south, an idea that has already been panned by critics.

Liverpool boss Klopp gave his take on the idea, which is common-place in the USA. On the Chelsea owner's proposal, the German told a press conference (as per BBC Sport):

"Does he want to bring the Harlem Globetrotters as well? When he finds a date for that he can call me. In American sports, these players have four-month breaks."

"Maybe he can explain that. I'm not sure people want to see that, [Manchester] United players, Liverpool players, Everton players all together. North east too, so Newcastle. It is not the national team. All the London guys together, Arsenal, Tottenham, great. Did he really say it?"

Jurgen Klopp is not on board with Chelsea owner Todd Boehly's idea of a Premier League All-Star match...

Would you like to see it happen one day?

#LFC | #CFC https://t.co/ifvTdH9iFn