Every word Todd Boehly said on Chelsea's transfer window plans, Andrey Santos return & Club World Cup | OneFootball

Co-owner Todd Boehly has confirmed Andrey Santos' future after outlining Chelsea's summer transfer plans ahead of the Club World Cup.

The American billionaire was speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday and Chelsea, as expected, was a hot topic of conversation, particularly with the club's Champions League fate being decided this week.

Chelsea have qualification in their hands and will head to Nottingham Forest this Sunday in their final match of the 2024-25 Premier League season. It is the first of two huge games as Enzo Maresca's side also travel to Wroclaw, Poland next week for the Conference League final.

It's been a strong end to the season for Chelsea after a dip mid-season and should they come out unscathed, it will mark a 'very good' first season for Maresca.

"I think we had a good season that can become very good," said Maresca in his pre-Conference League press conference.

It's a season defining week for Maresca, the players and the whole of Chelsea. / IMAGO / Action Plus

Boehly and Clearlake Capital, another one of the Chelsea co-owners, have given the backing of Maresca and will be hoping the 45-year-old can get the Blues over the line, which will give them a significant boost this summer - both in terms of their financial position and ability to convince their top transfer targets to join the club.

During his conference on Tuesday, Boehly was quizzed on a range of topics, including the Club World Cup and the return of Andrey Santos, to the club's stadium plans and transfer expectations this summer.

Here's what the Chelsea co-owner said on Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum with Bloomberg.

What's it like owning a football club - fun or a headache?

"A combination of both. It's like in anything I own. The good news is the bad news. If people didn't care then it would stink. It's a testament to how much the sport matters."

The Chelsea hierarchy are yet to experience silverware with the Men's side since the club's takeover in May 2022. / IMAGO / Action Plus

Level of competition in the Premier League

"If you look at the Premier League right now, there is so much excitement in it, especially with what's going on at the last weekend. There's seven teams that could be making Champions League. The winner of Tottenham and Man United will go to the Champions League. We'll have nine teams in European competition out of the Premier League alone, which to me is a testament to the quality of the product. To be part of that is a privilege."

"I think the level of competition is ferocious. The margins of error are so small. I don’t think I fully appreciated that the margin of error is so small. I think the sport's gotten more and more competitive in the Premier League and that makes winning all that much sweeter. I really didn't know how much I'd love a goal, a goal feels so good. Giving up a goal is the worst. There's nothing like a goal."

Increasing his role at Chelsea

"I think Chairman is a pretty good one! I can't play! Maybe I'll go as striker, see how the fans think about that!"

Ownership at Chelsea

"We have a good partnership. Like every partnership, you have times that you have to work through and times that are better. We hit the ground running in such an intense timeline that it was a complex moment. We're through it and we're excited about what the future holds.

"We think we have one of the best young teams. We were early on doing seven, eight, nine year contracts because we really wanted to make sure that we could keep the team together for a long time. In order to have a really good team you need stability within the team, environment. The only way that comes is through time. We set it up to be able to benefit from that."

Clauses in contracts to allow players to leave if Chelsea don't qualify for Champions League

"We don't have any clauses like that in any of our contracts."

Where the current focus is ahead of the summer transfer window

"We're going to the Club World Cup, so we are laser focused on the Club World Cup. We have some players that are joining us that weren't on the team - Andrey Santos, we're really excited about him and what he can add to the squad."

Andrey Santos spent the 2024-25 season on loan at RC Strasbourg, who he bid farewell to over the weekend. / IMAGO / PsnewZ

Will there be further, significant investment in the squad - what's the plan?

"We've done most of our investing. We're not looking at it as a spend, we look at it as an investment. We're trying to build the best portfolio of players that can perform at the highest level for the longest periods of time.

"We know what we need to do. We know the places that we need to invest. That's going to be our focus."

Stadium plans

"Long term we just have to figure it out. We recognise a club like Chelsea needs a 65,000 person stadium. We also recognise that that's going to be important to be able to compete long term. We'll figure that out."