Chelsea want to buy Boca Juniors, says Argentina president
Argentinian president Javier Milei says that Chelsea’s owners want to expand their multi-club group by buying one of the country’s top clubs.
Milei said the Premier League club’s US chiefs were interested in Boca Juniors, Racing, Estudiantes, Newell’s Old Boys and Lanús.
Chelsea’s owners have signalled their intent to own a number of football clubs around the world. The club’s holding company BlueCo bought French side Strasbourg in June and have been linked with Sporting Lisbon.
Milei said that his plan to open football clubs to outside investment would attract interest from Chelsea and Middle Eastern groups.
“There is a willingness to invest which has been expressed by Chelsea in the case of wanting to buy Boca, Racing, Newell’s, Lanús and Estudiantes. There are Arab groups willing to invest three billion dollars. It’s quick money,” he told Radio Mitre.
“I am a fan of Boca and if investment groups come to Boca and invest a fortune, and that means Boca always wins and River are not able to win a single game, the question is ‘where do I sign?’.”
Boca Juniors are known as one of the world’s biggest clubs, with football legend Diego Maradona ending his playing career at the side based in Buenos Aires. They have reached the final of South America’s elite Libertadores competition a record 12 times, winning six.
Racing and Estudiantes are also regarded as continental giants, with each club having won the Libertadores four times. Newell’s Old Boys is Lionel Messi’s childhood club, while Lanùs’ strong club history dates back to 1915.
Chelsea’s owners’ alleged interest in Argentina follows reports last year that the group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital enquired about buying shares in Portuguese side Sporting.
The multi-club ownership model has been popularised by Manchester City’s owners City Football Group, who own 13 clubs around the world. 777 Partners, who are set to buy Everton pending Premier League approval, currently own stakes in seven football clubs, which include La Liga side Sevilla and Brazil’s Vasco da Gama.
Argentina’s libertarian president Milei introduced an emergency decree to bulldoze the country’s economy in late December, with changes to football clubs ownership included in a package of over 350 law changes.
Clubs in Argentina are currently run by members known as “socios” in ownership models akin to that of Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Many of Argentina’s football clubs, including all those mentioned by president Milei, confirmed their commitment to the “civil association” model following the government’s shock announcement.
Boca Juniors and Newell’s Old Boys were among those to declare their opposition to Milei’s extreme measures.
Milei faces a number of challenges for his sweeping reforms to go through, including constitutional processes and opposition from large trade unions.
Chelsea did not immediately respond to a request for comment.