Todd Boehly and Clearlake ‘have cut Chelsea’s average wage to under £75k per week’

According to reports, Chelsea’s average salary has been slashed under the Todd Boehly-led ownership group.

The American businessman, who co-owns the Blues with Behdad Eghbali, joined forces with Clearlake Capital to buy the club a year ago in the wake of the UK government’s sanctions against Roman Abramovich.

However, it was a bleak and chaotic first season of ownership, with Boehly becoming a figure of fun in many circles after several decisions fell through.

Chelsea languish in 12th and are on course for their first second-half finish since the 1995/96 season, despite spending more than £600m on 18 players during the summer and winter transfer periods as their strategy often looked haphazard and flawed.

This has resulted in the Blues using a whopping 32 players in total this season – the second most in the top flight after Nottingham Forest’s 33 – while also having four caretaker or permanent managers in the dugout.

It was a tumultuous first season under Boehly, with The Blues finishing in the bottom half for the first time since the 1995–96 season, having signed 18 players.

Skyrocketing wages were paid out under the regime of previous owner Roman Abramovich

And according The timesone of the most important legacies of their first year at the helm – which will soon see a third permanent manager of their tenure when Mauricio Pochettino is announced – is the reduction in the Blues’ payroll costs.

On arrival, Boehly and Clearlake were shocked by the sky-high salaries handed out under the previous regime, with Chelsea often eyeing several other clubs for signing by offering higher wages.

This was no more apparent than the signing of Romelu Lukaku for £97.5 million in the summer of 2021, with the Belgium striker becoming the highest paid player in the club’s history at £315,000 a week.

However, Lukaku’s return to the club where he previously played between 2011 and 2014 has been a disaster and he has been loaned out to Inter Milan this season – but the 30-year-old still has three years left on his mega money. contract.

The report states that Boehly and Co. wanted to change this and reduce the risk of signatures potentially going wrong.

As a result, several of this season’s signings such as Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Muidryk and Noni Madueke have all signed much longer contracts at significantly lower wages.

Those three new signings – who came for more than £200 million – all signed Chelsea deals until at least 2030.

Romelu Lukaku became the club’s highest-ever paid player at £315,000 a week when he signed for £97.5 million in 2021 and this was something the new owner wanted to change

Mykhailo Mudryk (left), Enzo Fernandez (right) and Noni Madueke all signed deals until at least 2030, with the club’s average salary falling to less than £75,000 a week

But the lower value deals put them at significant risk of losing Mason Mount this summer

As a result of these lower value deals, the report states that the Blues’ average wage bill has been reduced to between £70,000 and £75,000 a week.

However, this has led to difficult negotiations and results elsewhere, most notably with academy graduate and fan favorite Mason Mount.

Mount – who has been with The Blues since he was six years old – has yet to reach a new deal with the club before his contract expires next summer.

Mail Sport previously reported how there is a breach of contract between Mount and Chelsea as there is a significant rift between the parties in the negotiations.

The England international – who has been the club’s Player of the Year in the last two campaigns – is said to be looking to triple his weekly wages of £80,000, which would put him in line with the other senior players and new signings.

However, the club are unwilling to comply and official talks between Chelsea and Mount over a new deal have now been postponed until the summer, when The Blues will either extend his deal or sell the midfielder – with a price tag of £ 55 million. touted.

Mail Sport reported on Wednesday how Manchester United have joined the race for Mount, while Arsenal and Liverpool are also excited about the 24-year-old as it reaches a time of crisis over his future.