Mauricio Pochettino warns Todd Boehly over fan reaction if Chelsea owner tries to buy Lionel Messi’s old club
MAURICIO POCHETTINO warned his boss Todd Boehly NOT to buy an Argentine football club.
The American billionaire Chelsea owner, 50, added the Blues to his portfolio in May 2022 when he bought them from Roman Abramovich.
And now he has his eyes set on swooping into the South American market.
Poch and Lionel Messi’s former side Newell’s Old Boys are said to be one of Boehly’s primary targets, according to Argentina president Javier Milei.
Boehly – who clashed with Chelsea fans last season – received a furious backlash from RC Strasbourg supporters after his BlueCo company purchased a majority stake in the French outfit last summer.
And Pochettino believes he would get an even angrier reaction from the notoriously-passionate ultras should he try his hand in Argentina.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s clash with Manchester City – who themselves are part of the worldwide City Football Group – Poch said: “It’s so difficult because Argentina is a country where it is not normally like here, where people arrive from outside and buy clubs.
“The fans, they feel they belong to the club and the club belongs to them, and it’s not easy to change the mentality.
“Maybe in time, yes, but at the moment I don’t believe it is going to be easy to buy a club there.
“But, of course, the president has new ideas and he wants to help the country and the people to have better lives.
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL
“It’s a difficult situation, but all the Argentines, we are going to support and we are going to do everything to try to help the country, Argentina, to stay in a better situation.”
Milei revealed Chelsea’s interest in buying an Argentine club in December.
And now he has also named giants Boca Juniors as one of the teams in Boehly’s vision.
Milei said: “There is a willingness to invest which has been expressed by Chelsea in the case of wanting to buy Boca, Racing, Newell’s, Lanus and Estudiantes.
“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?’”
But rather than taking the Chelsea name to Argentina, Poch instead offered out an invite for Milei to visit Stamford Bridge – and see both him and compatriot Enzo Fernandez.
Todd Boehly's sports teams
Chelsea (football) – owner and chairman
RC Strasbourg (football) – co-owner
Los Angeles Dodgers (baseball) – co-owner
Los Angeles Lakers (basketball) – co-owner
Los Angeles Sparks (basketball) – co-owner
DraftKings (fantasy sports and betting) – owner
Cloud9 (esports) – owner
Pochettino added: “I want to invite the president of Argentina [to Chelsea]. The other day, we made ‘Argentina Day’ here because we always try to celebrate things and create a nice atmosphere at the training ground.
“The staff did fantastic in the kitchen and the canteen.
“Our club photographer, Darren, took pictures and now I am sending them to a friend who is a friend of the president.
“If he’s in London one day, we want to invite him to come here because he loves football.”