Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has expressed his concern for Chelsea, urging the club’s next manager to include a clause in his contract to prevent Todd Boehly from interfering with the team. This comes after Boehly publicly criticised the team following their 2-1 defeat to Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Frank Lampard is adamant that he has no issue with Boehly speaking to the players, but Wenger firmly believes that the club’s ownership should not be involved in team matters. He told beIN Sports: ‘No, I wouldn’t, that was always clear in my mind. I always put that in my contract. The advice I give to young coaches when they make contracts, I say make what is important for you, put that clearly in your contract that you are the only one, nobody can buy a player without your agreement, nobody can interfere with the team, and you are solely responsible for managing the team.’
Wenger also suggested that Chelsea’s new ownership have made a major error by committing to such a large transfer outlay so quickly. He said: ‘I would say I’m worried for Chelsea. I agree that the new president comes in and invests a lot of money. I prefer somebody invests £500m but over five years £100m, because you can really change the team. But if you don’t invest well the £500m [in one go], then you have a real problem for the future. They haven’t invested well, no. That is basically their problem today, they still have the same weaknesses they had before, they do not score enough goals, they have a lot of possession but not a lot of conversion of chances to score goals. We have another example tonight, they brought Joao Felix in December and in the most important game of their season [against Real Madrid] they take him off because he doesn’t score goals as well. I believe as well when you sign players for eight years it’s good for the Financial Fair Play because you can amortise the transfer over eight years but if the player is not right you have to pay the player for eight years, it’s a huge burden for the future, it’s a massive risk.’
Arsene Wenger has expressed his worry for Chelsea and urged their next manager to include a clause in his contract which will prevent Todd Boehly from interfering with the team. He believes that Chelsea’s new ownership have made a major error by committing to such a large transfer outlay so quickly, as it could lead to a huge burden for the future. Wenger also suggested that if the player is not right, they will have to pay them for eight years and this could be a massive risk.