Arsene Wenger criticises Todd Boehly after Chelsea’s Champions League exit

Arsene Wenger admits he is worried about Chelsea’s future after raising major concerns about owner Todd Boehly’s hands-on approach at Stamford Bridge.

Boehly has made a habit of entering the Chelsea dressing room after matches in his first year at the club, and he labelled the team’s campaign ’embarrassing’ when addressing the players following their 2-1 defeat by Brighton on Saturday.

Interim manager Frank Lampard insisted he had no problem with Boehly talking to his side, but Wenger sees things very differently and has urged the club’s next permanent manager to ensure it doesn’t happen when they take charge ahead of next season.

‘No, I wouldn’t, that was always clear in my mind,’ the former Arsenal boss told beIN Sports when asked if he would allow an owner to come into the changing room.

‘I always put that in my contract. The advice I give to young coaches when they make contracts, I say make what is important for you, put that clearly in your contract that you are the only one, nobody can buy a player without your agreement, nobody can interfere with the team, and you are solely responsible for managing the team.’

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly (pictured) has regularly entered the dressing room to speak to players after matches this season

Arsene Wenger (pictured) says he would not have allowed an owner into the dressing room when he was a manager

Boehly may have hoped his pep talk could inspire Chelsea to pull off a dramatic comeback in their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid on Tuesday.

However, the Blues were beaten 2-0 by the holders, matching the result from the first leg, as they exited the competition. 

Wenger is adamant Boehly would not have deserved any credit even if Chelsea had turned things around, insisting the role of motivating players should be left to the manager.

‘Well, again, the comeback… I don’t believe in these kind of things because if I’m paid to motivate the team, to manage the team, I do not want somebody else to do my job,’ Wenger said.

‘It happened many times where the president goes into the dressing room and doesn’t talk well at all, but the team wins because it’s a good team, he thinks after it’s because he spoke to them.

‘It’s not always a consequence of their speech, most of the time it’s the quality of the team.’

Chelsea look almost certain to miss out on European football altogether next season despite spending £600m in the last two transfer windows. 

The Blues broke the British transfer record to sign World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez in January, and also paid huge fees for Mykhailo Mudryk and Wesley Fofana.

Yet they find themselves in the bottom half of the Premier League table and have lost their first four matches under Lampard.

Frank Lampard has lost his first four matches since being placed in interim charge of Chelsea

Wenger has admitted he’s worried for where the Blues are heading after their dire season

Wenger believes Boehly has not spent wisely in his first 12 months at Chelsea, claiming he has failed to address issues with the squad and created potential problems by handing out unusually long contracts.

‘I would say I’m worried for Chelsea,’ Wenger added. ‘I agree that the new president comes in and invests a lot of money. But if you don’t invest well, then you have a real problem for the future.

‘They haven’t invested well, no. That is basically their problem today, they still have the same weaknesses they had before, they do not score enough goals, they have a lot of possession but not a lot of conversion of chances to score goals.

‘I believe as well when you sign players for eight years it’s good for the Financial Fair Play because you can amortise the transfer over eight years, but if the player is not right you have to pay the player for eight years, it’s a huge burden for the future, it’s a massive risk.’