The face of Chelsea, under the dual-ownership of Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, has changed dramatically over the last few years.
The new owners ended the most recent summer transfer window with spending at an all time high, dropping £1bn on new signings and seeing some big names exit for lucrative fees.
They are an ambitious partnership and have put a massive emphasis on buying the best under-25 players in the world in an effort to try and get Chelsea back to the big leagues.
However it was two of Chelsea’s outgoing transfers in the first couple of weeks of consortium Clearlake Capital’s takeover that convinced those in charge of such a strategy.
Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have completely restructured Chelsea’s transfer approach
Manager Mauricio Pochettino has a wide array of young talent in Chelsea’s current squad
According to the Telegraph, the loss of both Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen for free in 2022 convinced the consortium to reimagine their vision for the club.
Christensen spent ten years in West London, joining the youth side in 2012 and developing in a first team regular which culminated in winning the Champions League.
German international Rudiger started in that final against Man City and joined The Blues from AS Roma for an initial £31m fee in 2017.
However both centre backs were allowed to run their contracts down before joining Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
The ownership were reportedly dismayed at losing two first team players for nothing, so have focussed on long-term contracts as the answer.
Players such as Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile and Noni Madueke are all on contracts of over eight years, tying their future and the club’s together.
The ownership believe that a typical five-year deal is really only a three-year deal before a decision has to be made on sale or renewal, otherwise a player may edge closer to an exit as a free agent.
Getting these young players on long contracts has also reduced a bloated wage bill for the Blues, with pay structures in place should players develop into world beaters.
There has been some questions over what happens to players who turn out to not be good enough and as a result of the new policy are stuck on lengthy contracts.
However this is the route the new ownership are willing to go down and only time will tell if such large investment will pay off.
Antonio Rudiger left Chelsea for La Liga gianst Real Madrid after five years at the club
Andreas Christensen was brough through Chelsea’s academy to become a first team regular
