Why are Saudi Arabian clubs rushing to buy Chelsea’s cast-offs? Todd Boehly and Clearlake’s close links to Newcastle owners PIF are raising eyebrows among fans as Blues scramble to stay within FFP rules
Barely a day passes at the moment without another raft of players being linked with lucrative transfers to Saudi Arabia.
At the moment, it’s Chelsea’s cast-offs who are being tempted by the eye-watering sums of money on offer to go and play in the Middle East Kingdom.
Midfielder N’Golo Kante is closing in on a move to Al-Ittihad, the reigning Saudi Pro League champions, and will be paid around £86million-a-year.
Al-Hilal, the club rejected by Argentine star Lionel Messi earlier this month, are trying to convince Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly to join them on £25m-a-year.
Al-Nassr, who caused a sensation by signing Cristiano Ronaldo back in December, have offered winger Hakim Ziyech the opportunity to double his salary in Riyadh.
Hakim Ziyech is among a number of Chelsea players attracting interest from Saudi Arabi
Midfielder N’Golo Kante has also been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League
Outcast striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could also be on his way to the Middle E
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly (above) recently visited Saudi Arabia as the Blues look to offload their cast-offs to the Saudi Pro League
The outcast striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored just three times for Chelsea after joining from Barcelona last year, is reportedly another Saudi target.
These offers may prove too good to refuse for players who have been told they have no future at Chelsea and need to move on this summer.
It’s also good news for the Stamford Bridge club, who urgently need to trim their bloated squad to keep the right side of Financial Fair Play [FFP] rules and balance the books.
The decks are being cleared for new manager Mauricio Pochettino to mould the team in his image.
But, as an increasing number of disillusioned fans are pointing out on social media, this Saudi escape route for Chelsea’s unwanted players looks a little too convenient.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund [PIF] – the oil-rich state’s sovereign wealth fund – recently announced it had taken control of four top clubs in the country – Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli.
They will own 75 per cent stakes in each of the quartet, with PIF promising to ‘unleash commercial opportunities, investment and sponsorship.’
Also at the meeting was Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal (pictured), a well-known Al-Hilal supporter who recently sold a minority stake in his investment firm to PIF
This will include buying up players at a certain point in their careers when they’re no longer wanted in European football and want a final big payday.
PIF also own 80 per cent of Premier League club Newcastle United, whose competitiveness was transformed pretty much overnight by an injection of Saudi cash following a £350million takeover in 2021.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan is governor of the sovereign wealth fund and Newcastle’s chairman.
But, as Mail Sport revealed last year, PIF are also major investors in Chelsea’s majority shareholder, Clearlake Capital. PIF have billions of pounds of assets managed by Clearlake.
Clearlake bought 60 per cent of Chelsea in a £4.25billion takeover last year with Todd Boehly leading the consortium.
Chelsea sources insist there was no Saudi involvement in the purchase of the club and, therefore, no potential conflict of interest with Newcastle competing in the same competitions.
PIF invest in a number of private equity firms as well as Clearlake, which is a diverse fund where none of the shareholders own more than five per cent.
But there is an excellent relationship between PIF and Clearlake, and as more and more Chelsea players are linked with moves to PIF-owned clubs in Saudi Arabia, fans are asking questions.
Intriguingly, the Chelsea co-owner Boehly was spotted in Saudi Arabia meeting with Al-Hilal president Fahd bin Nafel earlier this month.
Also at the meeting was Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a well-known Al-Hilal supporter who sold a minority stake in his investment firm to PIF last year.
Now, various PIF-owned Saudi clubs appear to want to help Chelsea offload players they no longer want like Kante, Ziyech and Aubameyang.
One fan wrote on Twitter: ‘So pretty much it’s a get out of jail free card for Chelsea, ultimately they can just spend as much money as they want on the best up and coming stars and if they fail it doesn’t really matter, just ship them off to Saudi Arabia. My love for football is dying by the day.’
Supporters have raised eyebrows at Saudi clubs suddenly being interested in Chelsea players
Another tweeted: ‘Lawless league if this ends up happening and clearing Chelsea’s FFP issues up for the long term.
Don’t blame them for using any loopholes available to them, but this is Saudi Arabia practically owning and bankrolling two PL [Premier League] teams. Not really sport anymore.’
A further tweet said: ‘Chelsea making dodgy Saudi Arabian player sales just after Boehly makes a trip out there and it’s all connected to Newcastle state-owned. Where the f*** does it stop?’
As mentioned there, Chelsea have spent enormous sums since Boehly replaced Roman Abramovich as their owner after the Russian was sanctioned following his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
In two transfer windows, Chelsea have paid out over £600million on new signings, recouping around £60m for a net spend of £540m.
They were placed on a UEFA watchlist of 19 clubs whose finances would be ‘monitored closely in the upcoming period’ last September after accounts for the 2021-22 campaign revealed a net loss of £121.3m.
Chelsea signed Enzo Fernandez for £106m last season – one of several big money purchases
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Incoming Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino will expect a kitty to bring in new players
That was even before the massive outlay on new players, so a firesale of players this summer is essential to stay within FFP rules, especially if Pochettino is to receive a transfer kitty to make his own signings.
As well as the players mentioned, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic are among those who could also potentially move away.
The budget has also been hit by Chelsea’s failure to qualify for the lucrative Champions League next season following a disappointing 12th-place finish in the Premier League.
So Chelsea need players out the door as quickly as possible to raise funds and there’s nobody keener to buy on the planet at the moment than leading Saudi clubs.
Chelsea haven’t broken any rules but the clear links between their owners and Saudi’s clearly don’t sit well with some fans who are joining the dots.
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Chelsea cast-offs wanted by Saudi Arabian clubs run by Newcastle owners