Todd Boehly ‘treating Chelsea like he’s playing Football Manager’, slams Gary Neville amid mad transfer scramble | The Sun

GARY NEVILLE has accused Chelsea owner Todd Boehly of treating the club like he is playing Football Manager and compared the American to Ed Woodward.

Boehly is in charge of Chelsea's transfer activity in his role as interim sporting director and has signed Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and MLS goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina.

But the Blues have missed out on several high profile targets including Raphinha and Jules Kounde who both joined Barcelona.

Neville believes Boehly made a mistake in getting rid of high profile figures at the club including Bruce Buck, Petr Cech and former sporting director Marina Granovskaia.

The pundit accused Chelsea's transfer strategy of lacking direction and he feels the pressure is getting to the new owner.

Appearing on The Overlap, Neville said: "The American guy [Todd] Boehly, looks like he wants to play Football Manager.

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"He's wandering around a little bit and they're a bit panicky now. They're almost like bouncing around because it feels like he has to do something.

"You're wondering "oh they're coming in for [Frenkie] de Jong this morning" because he feels like he has to do something, that pressure is on him.

"He wouldn't have had that pressure if he'd have kept the people that have been there before and just let them operate for a year or two, but it'll be an interesting season for Chelsea."

Neville also believes Chelsea being linked with multiple targets is a negative for the club, likening Boehly's policy to that of former Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward.

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Granovskaia was known as a "quiet powerhouse" but completed several high profile deals during her tenure – luring Jose Mourinho back to the club and signing Eden Hazard when he was one of the most sought-after talents in Europe.

Neville argues the quiet approach works best in the transfer market, with top clubs Manchester City and Liverpool acting efficiently behind the scenes to land their number on targets this summer – Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez.

He added: "I'm hearing his [Boehly] name too much. It feels like, it's not to be disrespectful, you know he's a prominent guy, he's just bought the club and everything.

"He's fronted a fund that's paid two and a half billion quid, but to get rid of all that football operation that's been unbelievable for that many years and come in and do it yourself, it does feel like Ed Woodward that to me. We'll see it develop.

"I mean, look, let's be clear, firstly – they're [Chelsea] reacting to what's available and what other clubs are doing.

"You look at what Manchester City and Liverpool are doing, [Txiki] Begiristain at City is their sporting director. Some people might not even know that. Some people do know that, but some people never even hear him, never even see him but they get their business done quickly and efficiently.

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"When clubs are working well, you don't hear who's signing the players, you just sign them.

"Chelsea have got that sort of, Manchester United under The Glazers, Ed Woodward, 'I'm taking over, I'm the man now', 'I'm going to go out and basically buy the players' and then they're linked with every player that Barcelona want, every player that City want, every player that United want."

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