Former Chelsea manager José Mourinho derided the “crazy investment” splurged by the club’s BlueCo ownership and credited head coach Enzo Maresca for the turnaround in recent years, even if his praise was layered with back-handed compliments.
The revered Portuguese boss won three Premier League titles across two spells at Stamford Bridge and will be heading back to west London with Benfica for a Champions League first-round tie on Tuesday evening.
The controversial Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was the club’s owner throughout Mourinho’s two tenures. The renowned oligarch, who allegedly has ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin—which he strongly denies—was forced to sell Chelsea in 2022 as a result of sanctions from the U.K. government following the invasion of Ukraine.
BlueCo, the investment vehicle fronted by Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, swooped in to buy Chelsea for £4.25 billion ($5.7 billion). Over the subsequent three years, the arch-disruptors have spent another £1.5 billion on players—almost twice as much as the world’s next biggest spenders Manchester United—without finishing higher than fourth in the Premier League.
