Chelsea's Champions League Days End Due To Financial Struggles

Life at Chelsea often resembles a soap opera, and this week has been appointment viewing at a club where the decision-making of its past and present ownership has come under scrutiny. It started with Chelsea receiving a Premier League-record fine and a suspended transfer ban because of business dealings — including $62 million of undisclosed payments to unregistered agents and third parties — under previous owner Roman Abramovich that, for some, have raised doubts about the legality of the trophy-winning squad that was built by the club. It hasn’t taken long for the focus to shift to the shortcomings of Chelsea’s expensively assembled current squad and the methods of its inexperienced coach Liam Rosenior, who was recently hired in a bold call by Chelsea’s American ownership.

A 3-0 home loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday wrapped up a chastening 8-2 aggregate loss for Chelsea in the round of 16 in the Champions League. It equaled the team’s heaviest European defeat over two legs. Todd Boehly, the U.

S. businessman who fronts Chelsea’s ownership, was pictured walking onto the field at Stamford Bridge and down the tunnel reportedly toward the locker room after the game. It’s not the sort of result Boehly and Clearlake Capital would have anticipated after overseeing a remarkable spending spree of around $2 billion on players since buying the club from Abramovich in 2022.

Neither is languishing in sixth place in the Premier League — outside the Champions League qualification spots — with eight matches remaining. Problems are mounting for Rosenior, two months after he was thrust into his first Premier League job. Fernandez speaks out Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez threw something of a curve-ball after the PSG game by placing in doubt his future at the club.