Focus on | Chelsea enter the era of American capital, the new boss like the Red Devils or the Reds?

On Saturday, the listing-bidding-negotiation process, which lasted more than two months, officially ended, and the former owner of Chelsea Club, Abramovich, has reached an agreement with the buyer for a transfer fee of 2.5 billion pounds plus a promised late investment of 1.75 billion yuan, and the club's change of hands can only be completed by the official review of the Premier League and the approval of the British government. The Abu era is completely over, where will the Premier League Blues go next?

When the British fans had just fallen asleep, Chelsea, who entrusted the American company to take charge of the transfer, suddenly sent big news: the listing-bidding-negotiation process that lasted more than two months was officially over, and the original owner Abramovich had reached an agreement with the buyer, the transfer fee of 2.5 billion pounds plus the promised late investment of 1.75 billion yuan, the club changed hands only to wait for the official review of the Premier League and the approval of the British government.

This era is completely over, so where will the Premier League Blues go next? One thing is for sure, this time Chelsea was forced to sell, and the group led by American Todd Burleigh was almost always the favorite to win the bid. As a result, they won the fastest and most prepared, which may also mean that the Blues have found the "most ideal home"?

It must be admitted that many British fans are still not satisfied with the current ending, not to mention Abu's forced departure (which is already an inevitable tragedy), but Chelsea has not returned to the hands of the British themselves. A week ago, Ratcliffe's sudden killing once made many British media cheer for his platform. "The British bid for the British club." With an extremely domineering "buying slogan", the local richest man has almost become a must for Blues fans.

Ratcliffe (left) unsuccessfully bid for Chelsea.

However, the bidding process has been completed for a long time before the bid is announced, and Ratcliffe's "patriotic card", although very encouraging, is completely non-compliant from the procedural point of view. This is also an important reason why rene group, the commercial bank entrusted by Abu, chose to reject its offer. In addition, there have also been some sharp-tongued British netizens who said that Ratcliffe was first a businessman, and then a Manchester United fan when he was a child, and his "stain" was enough to show that he was not as patriotic and loving Chelsea as he said. For example, Ratcliffe once supported Brexit, but then fled the UK to Monaco to avoid taxes; and he felt that the cost of building a factory in Wales was too high, so he moved his business to France.

It is for these reasons that there are also some people who think that Ratcliffe is just for profit. However, the problem of the rejected person does not mean that the winner is necessarily a wonderful choice. For British fans, American capital is always worth vigilance, because there are precedents for Manchester United and the Glazer family, who both hate the "vampires" from the other side of the ocean. However, it is not correct to be partial, after all, not all American bosses are poisoning Premier League clubs, and the most positive example is Liverpool's holder Fenway Group.

Even so, is the new boss of the Blues red devils or the reds? The conclusion is not easy to settle in advance, but according to the Daily Telegraph, Abu has already done some preventive measures to avoid "Manchester United" when he decided to hand over the club. The agreement between the parties allegedly contains an "anti-Glazer clause" prohibiting Burleigh Group from sucking blood from the club until 2032 in the name of paying dividends or management fees, while prohibiting them from selling any stake in the club for 10 years and severely limiting the level of debt they may incur.

Regardless of whether this provision is true or not, whether it can play its due role in the future, just looking at the situation of the Burleigh Group itself, we can say that doubts and hopes coexist. One of the most questionable aspects of the blues' new owners is that they have joined the investment firm Clearlake Capital Group, which will own more than 50% (60%) of the club in the future. Clearlake Capital currently manages approximately $72 billion in assets and makes a profit through capital operations on a daily basis. This is quite in conflict with Chelsea's original way of doing business, which is bound to cause serious concerns among fans.

Prior to this, Burleigh Group had been described as a combination of the American businessman (worth $4.5 billion) and the wealthy Swiss businessman Weiss (worth $5.1 billion), who was also the first to reveal Abu's intention to sell the team. Burleigh's partners Walter and Goldstein were mentioned later, with the former also worth about $4.3 billion. However, from the final acquisition plan, only Burleigh is the dominant and real buyer, and he will have control of the Blues' operations after the deal is officially completed, while the rest will only have a small stake, and Goldstein will not even sit on the club's board.

According to previous British media reports, clearlake capital joined mainly to ensure that Burleigh had enough follow-up funds to invest, that is, the 1.75 billion pounds he promised. Whether the Future of the Blues is bright or dark seems to depend entirely on the 46-year-old American boss. At present, there are still many good signs, such as Burleigh's business philosophy and Fenway Group have some similarities, both love to "professional work to professionals", and at the same time advocate the use of data analysis to run the team.

Burley is also the owner of mlosk baseball team Los Angeles Dodgers.

Through "Tottenham fan" Goldstein's connections in London, Burleigh's invited "Blues Fan Representative" and former Times columnist Sir Finkelstein is also a "data maniac". The latter was also previously involved in the production of the "Fan-Led Football Governance Assessment Report" launched by the British government. As for the fans, Burleigh still maintains a very pro-people image in the United States. In an interview with Yahoo Finance last year, he once said: "You must remember that the fans are the center." If sometimes you shake, go back and look at the fans. ”

It may sound like a beautiful scene, but Burleigh did a really good job with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was well received by the fans, and of course the team's results were quite good. Since he led the team to buy the Dodgers in 2013, the team has won the 1st division in major league baseball for eight consecutive seasons, won the National League championship three times and won the world championship in 2020.

One might think of another possibility: Burleigh, who has invested heavily in American sports, doesn't love football, like Klenke, who was hated by Arsenal fans for a long time, who was able to win the Super Bowl for the Los Angeles Rams? On this point, Burleigh does not deny that he does not have the same feelings as the British. In a 2019 interview, he said, "When I grew up playing the video games of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, I certainly didn't know what Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, I didn't know those clubs. But he knows exactly what the trend is today, "Now children know what is the best, the Premier League is the best." ”

What's more surprising is that as a native American, Burleigh does not call football "Soccer", and once said that he could not believe that American football can use the word "Football", "Football is the biggest sport in the world." The fan passion for the sport and the team is unparalleled. "When you start thinking about what you want to build with these teams, there are two things you need to do, one is to win the game and the other is to be part of the community." ”

It should be noted that the above remarks that are very much like showing favor to fans are not recent, and they are also the content of Burley's interview in 2019. In 2018, due to the tension between Britain and Russia, Abu was refused a visa by the British government, and there were some rumors that Chelsea would be resold. At that time, Ratcliffe asked for the price, but quickly said that the price was too expensive to buy. Burley is also said to have shown interest in acquiring Premier League clubs at that time, but he also knew Abu would not sell. So Blues fans should also feel a little relieved – at least The likelihood of Burleigh telling lies to draw British fans closer is relatively low.

According to Burleigh's past, he likes to invest in projects with a good foundation and strength, and continue to expand it to achieve sustained returns. It was the case with a partnership to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as a 27 percent stake in the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers in 2019 with Walter. Now at Chelsea, it is impossible for Burley to match Abu, and no one can be as generous as the latter, regardless of the price to build the Blues from a strong team to a real giant. But the Americans also have their own plans, such as expanding Chelsea's development in the North American market, as well as the home stadium reconstruction. In addition to expanding the space, Burleigh will also bring American business thinking: the stadium is not only a place to go and walk after watching the ball, but also allows people to stay there for a longer time.

Of course, in order to retain more fans, Chelsea must maintain a long-term forward momentum. Their future certainly can't be as lavish as it was in Abu's time, but the Russians left to spare the club's $1.5 billion loan. The Blues are financially sound and have a strong squad, and with reasonable input, it is no luxury to maintain their position as a top team.

Wen | Yan Yu

Edit | Fat Cat