Chelsea owner Todd Boehly decided he had seen enough after Mateo Kovacic’s long-range strike doubled Manchester City’s lead at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Pep Guardiola’s champions started their Premier League title defence with a 2-0 victory to put a dampener on the first match of Enzo Maresca’s reign.
Erling Haaland used his power and precision to open the scoring after 18 minutes before Mateo Kovacic stung his former club by adding a second from range with six minutes remaining.
It condemned Maresca to a defeat at the start of a tenure that has been met with mass scepticism after the divisive sacking of Mauricio Pochettino.
Boehly was in attendance at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea embarked on their second full season under the stewardship of the American and private equity firm Clearlake Capital.
But cameras spotted the 50-year-old making a swift exit from his box immediately after Kovacic’s goal took the game out of the hosts’ reach.
He made his way past those who sat next to him without acknowledging anyone before rushing out of the door, likely to beat the post-match traffic.
Boehly may have alternatively stayed behind at Stamford Bridge to work on Chelsea’s next deal of the summer transfer window.
The Blues are reportedly in talks with Atletico Madrid over the return of Joao Felix. An agreement would allow Conor Gallagher to finally complete a switch to the La Liga giants.
Chelsea have been blasted for their treatment of Gallagher after the academy graduate – one of their best players last season – was exiled from senior training at Cobham.
Boehly has faced intense criticism for his running of Chelsea since completing a £4.25billion takeover in May 2022.
He has been accused of reckless spending after sanctioning over £1bn on new players in just over two years.
The potential arrival of Felix has raised eyebrows, considering Maresca’s bloated attacking ranks saw Raheem Sterling and Romelu Lukaku among the big names excluded from the matchday squad against City.
Pedro Neto became Chelsea’s 11th signing of the summer as he completed his £54m move from Wolves earlier this month.
The Blues have splurged £185m since June 14 and now employ more than 50 senior players in an unprecedented situation.
Maresca will be forgiven for tasting defeat against City in his opening outing. But Chelsea face a must-win Europa Conference League play-off tie against Swiss club Servette in the next two weeks.
Chelsea travel to Wolves and host Crystal Palace in the Premier League after each leg before the September international break.
