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INEOS vs Todd Boehly and Clearlake: Who Are The Better Owners?

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When two of the biggest football clubs in the world both have new owners in just a few years, comparisons are inevitable.

Manchester United and Chelsea had been two of the top dogs of English football for some time but recently have found themselves adrift of challenging for titles and European trophies.

While for United it’s been over 10 years and Chelsea only three since they won either the Premier League or Champions League, both have dropped off significantly, with neither side anywhere near Manchester City or Arsenal.

The success of City and the rise of club’s like Brighton, have come through the establishment of an elite footballing hierarchy. This has become the standard for competing at the very top level.

Both United and Chelsea have attempted to do this, but who has implemented it better and which ownership group is superior?

Structure

United

In just six months, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have introduced a completely revamped hierarchy at the club.

While the Glazer family are still majority owners, their influence has been significantly reduced, as they no longer have control on footballing decisions. This has been left to INEOS.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is the minority shareholder and sits on the board of directors with the former performance director of British cycling, Sir David Brailsford and former CEO of Juventus, Jean-Claude Blanc.

Previous Chief Football Operations Officer for the City Football Group (CFG) Omar Berrada, has become United’s new CEO.

Below them is Dan Ashworth, the former director of football at Newcastle has become the sporting director at United. He is assisted by Jason Wilcox who was also a director of football but at Southampton. Wilcox takes on the role of technical director.

Christopher Vivell completes the behind-the-scenes structure, as he’s become the interim director of recruitment. He was last at Chelsea before he was put on gardening leave in a restructuring of their hierarchy.

Chelsea

Todd Boehly is chairman and in his first summer after buying the club, he made himself interim sporting director.

Since then he’s gone onto delegate roles and no longer is as present in day-to-day matters at the club.

This has been left to the co-owner of private equity company Clearlake Capital, Behdad Eghbali. He is the most influential figure at the club.

Eghbali is a no-nonsense owner, whose ambition is to catch up to City and Arsenal as quick as possible, regardless of the costs and casualties.

Below Eghbali is Chris Jurasek. He is the CEO but isn’t involved with footballing decisions and has no background in the sport having previously worked for Clearlake Capital as well.

Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart are co-sporting directors. Winstanley was formally Brighton’s head of scouting. Stewart worked as sporting director and technical director at Monaco.

Jo Shields slots in as Chelsea’s co-director of recruitment and talent. He had worked as a scout at Manchester City and Southampton.

Both sides have strong personnel in key positions but United have the edge. Although Ratcliffe and INEOS have struggled as the majority shareholders of Nice and FC Lausanne-Sport, his extra experience as a football owner gives him vital knowledge over Boehly, who’s only worked in American football and Eghbali who hasn’t worked in sport at all.

Likewise, although Jurasek will bring financial knowledge from his time at Clearlake Capital, the skill Berrada has, having worked at City for so long and then running the CFG, makes him an incredible asset for United. He knows exactly how to run a football club at the very top level. This isn’t something Jurasek will know yet.

Because Jurasek isn’t involved in footballing decisions, Chelsea relies on the knowledge of their co-sporting directors. Both Winstanley and Stewart are strong assets and so match up well against Ashworth and Wilcox. United’s sporting director has more experience as a top-level executive but Stewart’s global scouting knowledge would be stronger than both Wilcox and Ashworth’s, having worked in Germany, Austria, Monaco and England.

This is why United have hired Vivell, as he has a broad knowledge of European football having also worked in Germany and Austria.

Ultimately, on structure, United win this one having the more experienced footballing personnel in their hierarchy.

Transfer Business

Now this is where these top-level directors earn their money.

Since Boehly and Clearlake took over, Chelsea has spent over 1.32 billion euros. This puts them 10th in money spent on transfer fees in English football HISTORY, in just 2 years.

INEOS have had just one summer, so it’s hard to compare but there are some key factors we can already see, that will give a good idea of how successful the future regime will be.

Overspending

This has been a huge problem at United for years, paying inflated fees for players that just aren’t worth near that value. £81.3m on Antony, £80m on Harry Maguire and £73m on Jadon Sancho, to name a few.

INEOS’ signings

  • Joshua Zirkzee – £36.5m
  • Leny Yoro – £52.2m (£58.9) with potential add-ons
  • Matthijs de Ligt – £38.5m (£42.8m)
  • Noussair Mazraoui – £12.8m (17.1m)
  • Manuel Ugarte – £42m (£50.7m)

£206m with add-ons has got United five quality signings.

In previous summers, United would’ve splashed over half of that on one signing.

While you could argue that £58.9m for Yoro is overpriced for an 18-year-old, his potential ceiling is so high that he’ll be well worth that fee in years to come.

Zirkzee for £36.5m is excellent business, acquiring a huge talent for just under half of the £72m United paid for Rasmus Hojlund, the year before.

Although De Ligt hasn’t lived up to the expectations he had upon leaving Ajax, he’s still a top defender and to spend just £42.8m for him is very good value.

Likewise, Mazraoui for £17.1m is a huge technical upgrade on Aaron Wan-Bissaka and if he can stay fit, that’s incredible value for money.

United took their time negotiating for Ugarte and managed to get the fee down to the initial fee they wanted. There are some doubts on his ability on the ball, but there is no questioning his defensive work. £51m is expensive, but he could give United vital legs in midfield which they’ve lacked with an ageing Casemiro.

INEOS’ strategy was to set a valuation and hold firm on that. That’s why negotiations for De Ligt dragged on but eventually Bayern Munich caved in and United got their man. This is the clearest example of the difference United’s new directors are making. In recent years the club would’ve paid Bayern’s asking price for De Ligt, if not more but now the ‘United tax’ is disappearing.

There are too many to mention but here are some notable deals since Boehly and Eghbali’s arrival.

Chelsea’s signings

  • Cole Palmer – £40m (42.5m)
  • Kalidou Koulibaly – £33m
  • Mykhailo Mudryk – £62m (£89m)
  • Marc Cucurella – £55m (£62m)
  • Moises Caicedo – £100m (£115m)
  • Malo Gusto – £26.3m (30.7m)
  • Enzo Fernandes – £106.8m

There’s no doubt Chelsea has spent a ridiculous amount of money, but it’d be wrong to suggest that it was all overpriced signings.

Cucurella for £62m was steep, and the Spanish fullback has struggled at Chelsea but if he can continue his fine Euros form for the west London side, this could become a good deal in the end.

A British record fee of £106.8m at the time was expensive for Fernandes but probably about right for a player of his talent in that market. Since signing he’s been one of Chelsea’s best players but still needs to do more to warrant the price tag.

Gusto for £30.7m is terrific business. The French fullback has been great for Chelsea since joining and at just 21, has lots of room to improve.

Cole Palmer has been the standout player upon signing for the Blues. He’s been one of the world’s best players and acquiring him for just £42.5m is unbelievable value.

However, signings like Koulibaly for £33m only to be sold a year later, aren’t such good business.

Likewise, £89m for Mudryk, has only proved to be a huge waste of money, with the Ukrainian struggling to even start for Chelsea.

Then £115m for Caicedo, although a more influential player than Mudryk, is still very overpriced. The Ecuadorian is a talented player no doubt but not enough to justify that price tag.

As it’s INEOS’ first summer, we can’t tell for sure whether their business will be better than Chelsea’s but the fees paid and the level of quality brought in, is very encouraging for United.

A draw for now.

Strategy

INEOS has come in and looked to fill key positions that United lacked last season. They’ve brought in two centre-halves to provide vital depth to a defence that previously had to change partnerships every week. Another striker to create competition with Hojlund and a right-back who has tremendous quality on the ball and can equally play at left-back.

Every signing makes sense and adds huge value to the team.

But when you first look at Chelsea’s signings, it can be harder to decipher what their strategy is.

So let’s analyse it.

Having signed 12 players in the last year and 10 already this summer, the Blues’ squad depth is insane. They’ve got seven goalkeepers all together. SEVEN.

However, new manager Enzo Maresca, has denied that it’s a mess.

He said: “I am not working with 42 players. I am working with 21 players. “The other 15-20 players are training apart. I don’t see them. It’s not a mess like it looks from outside. Absolutely not.”

Some big names like Romelu Lukaku, Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Conor Gallagher (before he left for Atletico Madrid), have all been forced to train apart from the first team. Maresca doesn’t have a place for them in his plans.

Over 15 players are training separately. They will be sold or loaned out.

Understandably, a new manager has players he wants and doesn’t want, but the treatment of academy boy Gallagher has been nothing short of a disgrace. It’s set a dangerous precedent at Chelsea that being ‘one of their own’ means nothing in the long run.

In terms of signings, Pedro Neto for £54m is an interesting buy but a dangerous one with his bad injury record. The return of Joao Felix brings with it risks after his failure to dazzle in his initial loan at the club. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is a solid purchase after his form in the Championship for Leicester.

£80.8m has also been spent on acquiring young prospects.

While a lot of their business can be confusing, it’s clear that there is a future-thinking mentality at the club. They’re bringing in talent after talent to build a solid foundation for years to come.

Some of these youngsters like Renato Veiga, Marc Guiu and Filip Jorgensen will get first-team minutes in the Conference League.

However, with just three big signings (so far) that will impact the first team now, it can be a dangerous strategy to build for the future without securing the success of the present…

But with the return of Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku and Wesley Fofana, who all suffered long term injuries last season, this will be like having another three new signings.

Ultimately, as much as Chelsea’s future talent project might work, I’m giving INEOS another win on strategy. Their clear plan has been executed swiftly and decisively. Whereas Chelsea have spent so much and are yet to bare the fruit of this. This could certainly change, but for now United win it.

Key Moments

United

Retaining Ten Hag – This is INEOS’ weakest decision since they entered the club. Their slow decision-making and poor communication made this a lot worse than it needed to be. With so much noise that he was going to be sacked after the FA Cup final, it was a big mess for INEOS and one that wasn’t dealt with tremendously.

Not overpaying for Jarrad Branthwaite – In all the years before INEOS arrived, it would’ve been inevitable that for a player like Branthwaite, United would’ve paid over the odds to buy him. Whereas, the new structure have come in and set a precedent that they won’t overpay above their own valuation. This has led to them walking away from that deal and signing De Ligt for lower than Bayern wanted. This is a huge turning point for United’s behind-the-scenes business.

Chelsea

Sacking Mauricio Pochettino – This was a huge decision, particularly following the strong league form in the latter end of the season. Whether this was a good decision will remain to be seen.

1.32 billion euros spent – There’s no doubt that this has been a failure for Chelsea as they’ve not seen any success as a result.

Amortisation – Assuming there are no consequences, this FFP loophole could be a huge success for Chelsea. Offering seven-year contracts to lower spending each summer is genius, just as long as the player succeeds, or is easily sold on.

Signing Cole Palmer – Bringing in one of the best players in the world for just £42.5m is terrific business.

Ultimately, it’s a draw for key moments as United haven’t had many and Chelsea has had a few successes and failures.

Who Are The Better Owners?

It’s impossible to say without seeing a few years of INEOS’s ownership and the result of Chelsea’s youth approach, but based on variables like transfer and structure, INEOS look to be the better owners.