The Todd Boehly makeover of Chelsea Football Club continues. Boehly, an American billionaire and financier, who also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers and L.A. Lakers handled Chelsea FC’s transfer window business this past summer himself, but now he has a new Football Director of Recruitment lined up.
It’s not official or finalized yet, but as it’s being reported by transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, well it is going to happen. Here we go time indeed.
Exclusive: Chelsea are closing in on the agreement with Southampton to appoint Joe Shields as new Director of Recruitment. ?? #CFC
Huge statement by club owners as Shields is highly rated after his top work with Southampton and Man City, discovering many talents. pic.twitter.com/VV2TCd1zDn
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 12, 2022
Joe Shields is so favorably regarded, his appointment is sure to win over more of the Todd Boehly skeptics among the Chelsea supporter base. Shields fills a void that became entirely glaring once Marina Granovskaia left. Leaving along with her were Petr Cech and Bruce Buck, leaving Boehly with a lot of work to do in overhauling the front office.
While Boehly has his critics, and really every billionaire should be treated with skepticism anyway, you have to applaud his dedication to thew club.
Some of his ideas, like a Premier League All-Star Game, are misguided at best, awful at worse, but he truly does care. His transfer window was rather uneven and disjointed, but he’s willing to invest in the club, in order to build a winner. (Obviously, we love the signing of young Chicagoland born goalkeeper Gaga Slonina from the Chicago Fire)
Taking transfer business off his plate should help the club, all around. Boehly shows up for games regularly, and his appointment of Graham Potter as the new manager was met with widespread approval.
Appointing Shields should elicit the same kind of reaction. Although emphasis on the word “should.” I mean with football fans, there are always loud malcontents, everywhere.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.