Todd Boehly has long coveted Cristiano Ronaldo, with the superstar attacker’s choice for the Manchester United manager’s post potentially influencing who becomes the next Chelsea manager.
Todd Boehly remains a transfer goal of Cristiano Ronaldo’s, the superstar being Ronaldo’s preferred candidate to succeed Antonio Conte as Chelsea’s manager.
Blues owner Boehly is searching for a new manager after dismissing Graham Potter on Sunday evening. Since succeeding Thomas Tuchel, the Englishman had won just 12 games, causing Chelsea to fall into the bottom half of the Premier League.
This was intolerable to Boehly, who has now slain Potter. Several candidates have been mentioned as potential successors at Stamford Bridge, with former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann considered the favourite.
Boehly may instead consider former Barcelona manager Luis Enrique as a contender. Once Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired in November 2021, Ronaldo advocated for his candidacy for the Manchester United position.
The great attacker favored the Spaniard over Zinedine Zidane to be the next manager. Throughout their time in LaLiga, Ronaldo and Enrique squared off numerous times, with the latter experiencing great success with Celta Vigo and Barcelona.
Before leaving the Nou Camp, he guided Barcelona to a treble in his first season in command, winning the league again the following year and the Cup del Rey twice more. Following a year away from the sport, he became the manager of the Spanish national team.
Enrique took La Roja to the semifinals of Euro 2020, but resigned after a humiliating elimination in the Round of 16 at the World Cup last year. Even so, it is likely that Ronaldo still holds him in high respect.
And it could have an impact on Boehly, as the American was eager to sign Ronaldo both in the summer and winter of last year. Boehly has a history for causing a stir on the transfer market.
Boehly met with Ronaldo’s representatives as he pushed for a transfer away from United, indicating that the signing of the superstar would meet this need. Last summer, Chelsea’s owner met with Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes for discussions.
Despite the fact that nothing came of Chelsea’s interest at the time, it is conceivable that Boehly would still be interested in signing him given the Blues’ current troubles. Ronaldo is presently playing for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr after a contentious departure from Manchester United.
Ronaldo’s new team has fallen behind Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League title chase as he enjoys the perks of one of the most costly contracts in sports history.
The low quality of the league and the lack of international interest in it could prompt Ronaldo to seek a move back to Europe. Boehly might play a trump card in this scenario by choosing Enrique as Potter’s replacement.