Inside Chelsea's transfer strategy: What happened between Boehly and Tuchel as head coach is sacked

Editor's Note: This article has been updated after Chelsea's announcement on Sept. 7 that Thomas Tuchel had been sacked as Chelsea manager following their Champions League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb.

In mid-July, an agent seeking to break an impasse in a transfer not involving Chelsea had an unusual idea: «Let's call Todd Boehly.»

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The player in question was in advanced talks to move to another Premier League club, but negotiations had stalled for some time over his valuation. Chelsea had previously shown no interest despite many of Europe's top sides closely monitoring the situation, but the Blues had been linked with so many players at the time that the agent thought Boehly, who had extended his role as new co-owner and chairman to act as interim sporting director following the club's takeover, was worth a try. And less than a week after it all finished, Tuchel was sacked.

Boehly didn't even negotiate. After being informed of the asking price — a considerable sum north of £15 million, left vague here to maintain the player's anonymity — Boehly agreed almost instantly in principle to both the valuation and proposed personal terms. What followed was a series of internal meetings led by Boehly, coach Thomas Tuchel and co-owner Behdad Eghbali at which a final assessment of the player was made. In the end, Tuchel was not quite convinced and Chelsea did not follow through.

The player is now at a rival English club, but this example is a snapshot of Chelsea's latest transfer window, the first under Boehly and Clearlake Capital's ownership. It was a summer in which they were playing catch-up from the start, enduring a series of frustrations amid accusations of naivety, but