Todd Boehly opens up on Roman Abramovich final gift as Chelsea co-owner sends exciting message

Todd Boehly has heaped praise on Enzo Maresca following Chelsea's 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final. Cole Palmer fired the Blues to victory at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday evening, lifting the second trophy of the ownership's reign.

In May 2022, Boehly joined forces with Clearlake Capital, owned by Behdad Eghbali and José E Feliciano, to buy the west London outfit from Roman Abramovich. The consortium bought Chelsea for £4.25bn, making the Blues the most expensive football club in the world.

An official statement revealed that Boehly and Clearlake paid £2.5bn for shares, while £1.75bn was set aside for investments in infrastructure, the men's team, the women's team, the academy and charity funding.

The American billionaires had a rocky start to life at Stamford Bridge, but they've found their feet under Maresca. At the weekend, Chelsea won their second trophy in just 46 days, and the second of their reign, following the Conference League triumph in Wroclaw at the end of May.

While the Conference League will be remembered as the first honour of a new era, the Club World Cup was the first time that Chelsea asserted themselves as a serious force to be reckoned with on the global stage since Abramovich was at the helm.

Boehly and Clearlake armed Maresca with the tools to get the job done, but it was the Russian billionaire who put the Blues on the plane to the United States – figuratively speaking, of course. Chelsea qualified for the Club World Cup by winning the Champions League four years ago while Abramovich was still at the helm.

Abramovich was in attendance at the Estádio do Dragão on May 29, 2021, as the Blues defeated Manchester City. Then, in February 2022, Chelsea went on to win the previous edition of the Club World Cup, beating Palmeiras 2-1 in the final at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Boehly commented on the west Londoners' success in the United States this summer. The American billionaire said: "Well, we couldn't have wished for a better outcome for our boys, who have done such good work and trained so hard, really came together in America under Enzo's leadership and his direction.

"No one gave us a chance to beat PSG, and the boys really thrived and grew on that. Watching them come together over the last couple of weeks in America has been very special.

"I think the form that you've seen is everything we hoped when we were putting this together with [co-sporting directors] Laurence [Stewart] and Paul [Winstanley]. Behdad [Eghbali, co-owner] and I couldn't be more grateful for the success that they've had, and for all Chelsea fans everywhere.

"We're just so thrilled, and thank you for sticking with us. We're really excited about what the future holds," added Boehly. "It's still hard to all digest, it's been absolutely surreal.

"But again, I think the thing that just made the day was just how well the boys played. They really had nothing to lose and they put it out there, they were so organised and so methodical, and the plan that Enzo laid out was so well-done.

"So the combination of the planning and the execution couldn't have made me more proud."

On next season, Boehly said: "I think the boys have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with, and I think that's what we were hoping for. Keep the blue flag flying high!"

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