Boehly ‘demonstrated power against Tuchel’ with Fofana’s arrival used to wind up ex-Chelsea boss
Todd Boehly reportedly ‘demonstrated power against Thomas Tuchel’ in the summer and the Chelsea co-owner looked to wind up the German.
The American businessman completed his takeover of Chelsea earlier this year and he has been quick to cause a stir.
Perhaps no more so than earlier this week when he boldly suggested that there should be a North versus South All-Star game made up of Premier League players.
Todd Boehly and his All-Star comments fit the worst stereotypes of American owners
The less said about that the better, really. Away from his grander plans, Boehly threw his weight around in the transfer market this summer.
This was necessary after Chelsea lost Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner. The latter two leaving is a lesser blow, mind.
Tuchel was backed as around £250m was spent on new players. Raheem Sterling and Marc Cucurella were bought for significant fees before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Denis Zakaria were recruited on deadline day.
It was a priority for Chelsea to add more centre-backs to their squad and they ended up settling on Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana.
Over £100m was spent on the two players, with a potential total fee of £75m being spent to prize Fofana away from Leicester City.
The Frenchman shone for the Foxes during the 2020/21 campaign in what was his debut year in England. But he missed most of the following season after fracturing his fibula.
Fofana has now made a full recovery but before he became a Chelsea player he was sent to the United States to complete his medical.
‘Medical expert’ Ben Dinnery has suggested that this was done so Fofana was checked by doctors Boehly “knows and can rely on”:
“It is not unusual to send your players to medical practitioners that you trust implicitly,” Dinnery told Football Insider.
“We know Boehly is US-based and has the background and experience with the LA Dodgers which is all based in the States.
“I think this will basically be a case of going to people you know and can rely on. I think that’s all this is.
“Boehly’s background is all sports-oriented, so it’s no surprise to see they already have these provisions set up.”
It has emerged following Tuchel’s exit that the manager butted heads with Tuchel over several topics including transfer targets and their overall vision for the club.
And SportBild (via Sport Witness) are reporting that Fofana’s medical exemplified the division between Boehly and Tuchel.
They state that Fofana having his medical in the United States was a way for Boehly to ‘demonstrate his power against Tuchel’.
The manager was understandably against this as it meant that Fofana had to wait a couple of extra days before linking up with his new teammates.
The report also notes that Boehly’s anger towards Tuchel comes after the manager praised ex-Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia.
Tuchel even stated that he would have liked Granovskaia to continue in her role under the new regime.
‘Boehly didn’t like that someone contradicted him’ so he looked to irritate Tuchel with Fofana’s medical.
