Chelsea ‘enter talks to buy Portuguese side Portimonense’ as Todd Boehly steps up multi-club plan
Chelsea‘s new owners are ramping up their plans to implement a multi-club model after entering talks to buy Portuguese side Portimonense.
Sportsmail revealed earlier this month that Todd Boehly, who became co-controlling owner at Stamford Bridge in May, held initial discussions with super agent Jorge Mendes over buying a Portuguese team in the summer.
The American made contact with Mendes and Chelsea’s academy manager Neil Bath over the idea of purchasing a side in Portugal, having spoken of his desire to emulate Manchester City and the Red Bull football group by establishing a network of partner clubs across the globe.
Chelsea’s co-controlling owner Todd Boehly is ramping up plans to build a multi-club model
The Blues have reportedly entered talks over a deal to buy Portuguese team Portimonense
And according to the Evening Standard, Boehly and his fellow Blues chiefs are in talks over a deal to buy Portimonense, who currently sit fourth in Portugal’s top flight.
It is believed they have identified the country as an ideal location for a satellite team, along with Belgium, France and Brazil.
The new Chelsea officials are still exploring the possibility of buying a club in Belgium, but they failed in their attempts to acquire French outfit Sochaux and Brazilian giants Santos.
Boehly spoke of his aim to establish a global network of teams at the recent SALT conference
Santos, famous for producing Brazil icons Pele and Neymar, made it clear they weren’t interested in a partnership after being approached by the west London side.
Brazil is another country viewed by Boehly and co-owners Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano as perfect for their multi-club plans, as striking a partnership with a South American team will help them get around work permit issues.
Should a young player require a long-winded work permit application, Chelsea would be able to send him to South America to establish themselves before they qualify.
Boehly outlined his plans to build a global franchise of clubs earlier this month, saying at the SALT conference in New York: ‘We’ve talked about having a multi-club model. I would love to continue to build out the footprint.
‘There’s different countries where there are advantages to having a club. Red Bull does a really good job at Leipzig and they’ve got Salzburg, both of which are playing in the Champions League so they’ve figured out how to make that work. You have Man City which has a very big network of clubs.
‘The challenge Chelsea has, when you have 18, 19, 20-year-old stars, you can loan them out to clubs but you hand their development to someone else.
‘Our goal is to ensure we show pathways for our young stars to get on to the Chelsea pitch while getting them real game time. The way to do that is through another club in a really competitive league in Europe.’