How Likely Is It That Chelsea Purchase A Stake In Sporting Lisbon?
According to reports, the owner of English Premier League side Chelsea FC, Todd Boehly, recently offered to buy a stake in Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon as part of a deal to sign 22-year-old Uruguayan international footballer Manuel Ugarte.
However, it turned out that Chelsea have since pulled out of the deal. Here is a closer look at why Chelsea made such an offer to try and sign Ugarte and include purchasing a stake in the club.
Why did Chelsea initially offer to purchase a stake in the club when attempting to sign Manuel Ugarte? The main reason why Chelsea’s owner Todd Boehly initially offered to purchase a stake in Liga Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon as part of the deal to sign midfielder Manuel Ugarte was to avoid falling foul of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
The initial deal to purchase Ugarte was not entirely cash-funded, which is why a proposal to purchase a minority stake in the club was suggested. However, this all backfired when French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) activated the contract’s £52 million release clause.
A similar thing happened in early 2023 when Boehly also tried a similar deal with another Portimonense – another team from the same Portuguese league.
Are Chelsea still one of the most bet-on teams in the English Premier League?
Yes. Despite finishing 12th in the Premier League at the end of the 2022/23 campaign and only being 12th in the Premier League at the time of writing, Chelsea are still one of the most bet-on Premier League teams. The official red 32 sport betting site (better known by most as 32Red) currently has some of the most competitive Premier League betting odds, and Chelsea football matches usually attract a lot of betting action.
Which players did Chelsea sign, sell, or release on loan in the summer of 2023?
Throughout the summer transfer window, Chelsea spent big money on bringing more than ten new players to the club. Here are some of the most notable new signings:
Team signed from: Brighton. Player: Moisés Caicedo. Fee £115 million
Team signed from: Southampton. Player: Romeo Lavia. Fee £53 million
Team signed from: RB Leipzig. Player: Christopher Nkunku. Fee £50 million
Team signed from: Manchester City. Player: Cole Palmer. Fee £40 million
Team signed from: Monaco. Player: Axel Disasi. Fee £115 million
Team signed from: Villareal. Player: Nicolas Jackson. Fee £30 million
Chelsea also signed several other players, including Brighton’s Robert Sanchez for £25 million, Rennes’ Lesley Ugochukwu for £23.5 million, and New England Revolution’s Djordje Petrovic for £14 million.
Other new arrivals included two players from Santos, Deivid Washington (£13.7 million) and Angelo Gabriel (£13 million), and Benfica’s Diego Moreira on a free transfer. Chelsea also sold over 20 players, some of which included Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Christian Pulisic, and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Others who are no longer at Chelsea or currently out on loan are Cesar Azpilicueta, Tiemoue Bakayoko, N’Golo Kante, Romelu Lukaku, David Datro Fofana, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. There’s also Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy, Louis Flower, Ethan Ampadu, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Kepa Arrizabalag, to name a few.
Can Chelsea win the Premier League with all these new players?
Chelsea are currently in a transitional period, and it may take a year or two before they can win the Premier League. For example, Chelsea are currently priced, on average, at around 50/1, meaning they only have a 2.00% implied probability rate of coming out on top this year.
A more realistic bet would be for Chelsea to finish in the top four at 5/1 (28.60% implied probability rate). If you don’t think they can manage this, they are currently priced at around 1/20 (95.20% implied probability rate) to finish in the top 10 at the end of the season.
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