Premier League makes HUGE decision on Chelsea's Saudi links

Tom Weber

• Updated: 4 Jul 2023 15:48 BST
• 3 min read

The Premier League is satisfied with the documentation provided by Todd Boehly that shows Chelsea are not owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), according to reports.

The Saudi Pro League is making massive waves in the transfer market this summer. Following the winter arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, Saudi Arabia is going on the offensive in a bid to bring more big-name players to its domestic league.

Though a quite brazen attempt at sportswashing - like the takeover of golf - this new policy is a blessing for some of Europe's biggest sides. It allows those teams to offload unwanted players that no club on the continent could - or would want to - afford.

The prime example of this is Chelsea. Todd Boehly spent north of €600 million on new players last term but with little success. Now, Chelsea desperately need to trim down their squad, yet many players are either unaffordable for European clubs or they are on such high wages and long-term contracts that they have no intention of going somewhere where they would be required to take a pay cut.

READ: From £71m wonderkid to Chelsea outcast: What happened to Kai Havertz?

Step in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf State has offered a vital reprieve to a Chelsea side butting against Financial Fair Play regulations and in need of offloading players. Hakim Ziyech, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy are all on their way to the Pro League, while N'Golo Kante has already signed for Al-Ittihad, albeit on a free.

Are Chelsea owned by the Saudis?

This, naturally, has given rise to suspicions that Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and company are colluding with the Saudi Private Investment Fund, which now controls the Pro League's four biggest clubs, to help them get out of their tricky situation. These rumours were fuelled by the fact that the PIF used to invest in Eghbali's Clearlake Capital.

Now, the Telegraph has revealed that the Premier League asked Chelsea to submit proof that the PIF was in no way involved in Boehly's takeover of the London club. The PIF also control Newcastle United and there are fears that their growing influence and meddling in Premier League affairs would lead to a conflict of interest.

READ: Sandro Tonali: Why Chelsea failed in their bid to sign Newcastle-bound star

The Premier League, however, was completely satisfied with the evidence provided by Boehly. This means that Saudi Arabia's happy spending on Chelsea (and Premier League) players will continue unabated, but the rumours about potential collusion between Boehly and the PIF are unlikely to go away.