Chelsea’s owners ’have to put serious money’ into Santos after ‘law change’
Chelsea’s plans to add Santos to its multi-club ownership model will only work with serious investment being put into the Brazilian club.
That is according to ex-Aberdeen and Everton and Aston Villa chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who has explained why it would be an expensive purchase for the club.
Chelsea’s owners already have a majority stake in Strasbourg, and they have ambitions to increase their portfolio.
Deals between Chelsea and Strasbourg though have faced scrutiny from UEFA, with the two clubs completing multiple transfers between one and other during transfer windows.
Santos project to take ‘time and effort’
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – states that Todd Boehly would need to show patience if he was to buy Santos.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness believes it would be a huge project for Chelsea to undertake.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Well, it’s interesting because I’ve actually had a look at Santos myself over the last year or so. Fascinating history, of course, with Pelé and Neymar, etc. But the club itself is an actual mess.
“I mean, it was relegated for the first time in its history last season and it’s not doing well this season in the Serie A in Brazil. It’s got terrible facilities and you’d think a club of that history should be doing really, really well. Does it make sense?
“Well, they’re going to have to invest a fair bit of money in that club. There’s been a law change recently that allows clubs to privatise whether Chelsea could actually fit that new law and take it into a new formation, rather than being like a circus as we have in Spain with Barcelona and Real Madrid. That’s yet to be seen.
“That could be quite a complex transaction, but it’ll also require serious investment in stadium and training facilities. What you’ve got to look at there, it’s an MCO, which is what we’re talking about, the multi-club operations. If Chelsea were to add this to the group of clubs, it’s not a ready-made product.
“This is going to take, I think, between five to 10 years. Now, if you did the academy first and you started to then look at trying to get more of the Brazilian youngsters through, you’ve really got to spend serious money on facilities, boarding facilities, et cetera, to make this worthwhile and pay off.
“It is not like Strasbourg, which is a ready-made situation. This is going to take time and effort.”
Chelsea stadium plans yet to move forward
Boehly is also focusing his efforts on trying to sort a new home for Chelsea or expand Stamford Bridge to bring in extra revenue.
However, Chelsea’s stadium plans are proving complicated, with no clear plan of action yet to be found or agreed upon.
Stamford Bridge currently holds around 40,000 spectators, which is the 11th biggest capacity stadium in the Premier League currently.