Xabi Alonso says Chelsea ambitions ‘very clear’ as Boehly era ends

Chelsea announce that Clearlake will acquire the stakes of Todd Boehly and director Mark Walter.Xabi Alonso said Chelsea’s ambition was “very clear” after Clearlake Capital took full control of the Premier League club, ending Todd Boehly’s chairmanship.Chelsea announced late on Wednesday that Clearlake, led by co-founders Behdad Eghbali and Jose E Feliciano, would acquire the stakes of Boehly and director Mark Walter.US billionaires Boehly and Walter partnered with Clearlake to buy the London club from Roman Abramovich in May 2022 in a sale mandated by the British government.Prior to the new deal, private equity company Clearlake had owned 61.5 percent of the club, with Boehly and Walter carving up the remaining shares with another investor, Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss.Chelsea said Wyss would “remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group”.Boehly and Walter are among the co-owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, while Walter recently sold the Los Angeles Lakers basketball franchise for $12.5bn.The Financial Times reported that the pair were set to receive 950 million pounds ($1.27bn) for their combined stakes in Chelsea, in a deal that values the club at about five billion pounds, including debt.In a new statement on Thursday, Chelsea said: “Our ambition is clear: to compete at the highest level, to win major trophies, and to build sustained success”.Blues boss Alonso, who started at Chelsea on July 1 , told reporters that the change was “an important day for the club”.“Thanks to the former owners for what they’ve done. I was not here, but I know they played an important role,” he said on the eve of Chelsea’s Premier League match at Brentford on Friday.