"Is it only to make money?" - Ballon d'Or winner slams Chelsea; questions club's plans and philosophy under Todd Boehly
Former player Ruud Gullit has slammed Chelsea and their owner Todd Boehly, opining that the club have no philosophy. The 1987 Ballon d'Or winner said he does not understand the direction the club is heading in under the new ownership.
Speaking to Daily Mail, Gullit opined that the new owners care more about the money than winning trophies. The Dutchman wonders what their long-term plan is.
"Chelsea are an enigma. I can't understand them. I don't know how they want to play. I don't know what their philosophy is. Is it only to make money? What are they trying to achieve? Chelsea have to have a DNA," Gullit said.
The comments come just weeks after Gullit claimed that Boehly did not recognize him, nor did he know that the Dutchman had played for the Blues. He said on 'The Overlap' podcast (via Chelsea News):
"I met the Chelsea owner, Todd Boehly, Introduced myself, 'Hi I am Ruud Gullit,' Todd said, 'What do you do?' 'Well I played football, also played and coached for Chelsea.' Todd said, 'Oh yeah, when did you play for Chelsea, what did you do for Chelsea?' He didn't know.. Can I blame him? No, but this is what it is now, they don't know what the club is all about… the DNA is gone."
"Clubs nowadays are run more as a business than by heart, for some reason they just don't get it. It feels as if the heart is out of the Football Club. Milan, Rome, Chelsea, Man United," he added.
The Blues won the UEFA Conference League last month and are currently playing in the FIFA Club World Cup. They have qualified for the next season's UEFA Champions League after finishing fourth in the 2024-25 Premier League.
Ruud Gullit never wanted to manage Chelsea
Ruud Gullit appeared on the 'Stick to Football' podcast earlier this year and said he was never interested in becoming the Blues' manager. He added that it was a role he was forced to take up. He said (via GOAL):
"I didn't want to be a manager anyway. I never wanted it. I just got dragged into it. The one certainty you have is that you get sacked, that is what you know for sure, and it's not a nice feeling when you get sacked. There's a lot going on behind your back, a lot of things happening around you that you have no influence on. And that's what I hate about the job."
Ruud Gullit played 64 matches for the Blues and scored seven times. He managed them 91 times from July 1996 to February 1998.