Chelsea owner Todd Boehly is currently in the midst of a power struggle with Behdad Eghbali and his Clearlake Capital firm that has led to claims in some quarters of 'civil war' unfolding at Stamford Bridge.
The American owner has presided over another chaotic summer at Stamford Bridge that saw a managerial change in the dugout, along with nine signings and a raft of departures in the club's latest spending spree.
But if Boehly had it his way, the Blues would have never moved on from Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea parted ways with the 52-year-old in May and he was subsequently replaced by Enzo Maresca but a new report has suggested that chairman Boehly tried to keep Pochettino at Stamford Bridge, despite heavy pressure from elsewhere.
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According to The Times, Pochettino's departure was the 'tipping point' of a currently broken relationship between Boehly and his co-owners from Clearlake Capital.
Sources at Chelsea have said that the sporting directors at Stamford Bridge, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, delivered an 18-page report explaining why Pochettino had to leave his position.
Boehly disagreed with the decision, publicly backing the former PSG boss before performing a U-turn.
The difference of opinion soon escalated to a much higher level with Bloomberg stating that the decision-makers at the club now disagree on key issues.
Chelsea have spent more than £1 billion on players since the American's arrival and have not qualified for the Champions League since 2022.
Frank Lampard, Pochettino and Graham Potter have all attempted to steer the ship but no progress has been made.
Maresca's appointment brought further confusion given his relatively limited experience at the top level of English football.
The Blues have won just one of their opening three games of the season, a 6-2 away win against Wolves.
Plenty of players have also been cast aside by Maresca, including Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Trevoh Chalobah.
“I said the other day, we have a big squad and, for me, it is impossible to give all of them minutes," Maresca said on the confusion regarding his squad.
“So some of them, if they are looking for minutes, always it is better to leave.
"And, in case they don’t leave, they have a contract here and they are a Chelsea player.
“The only [thing] I can say is that I try always to be honest with all of them.
"In this moment, probably the noise is more outside, because I am working with 21, 22 players since we are back from the USA. I am not working with 42, 43 players.
“I already said [this] many times, but I can see you like to say that we have 42, 43 players - but more than 15 players, they are training apart. They are not with the team.”
Topics: Enzo Maresca, Todd Boehly, Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino
Matthew Holt