Chelsea ownership 'civil war' will not be a distraction for team, insists Enzo Maresca

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca insists the ‘civil war’ brewing in the club’s boardroom will not affect his team on the field.

The international break has been dominated by reports of growing tensions between Chelsea co-owners Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly over key decisions, including the call to move on from Maresca’s predecessor Mauricio Pochettino at the end of last season.

Standard Sport understands that both parties are exploring options to buy the other out, but that neither want to sell. Clearlake, which is co-owned by Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano, is the majority shareholder with a 61.5 per cent, while a consortium fronted by Boehly owns the other 38.5 per cent.

The saga has brought a fresh sense of uncertainty to Stamford Bridge just at the moment Maresca is seeking to build stability after a hectic transfer window drew to a close.

Chelsea return to Premier League action against Bournemouth on Saturday and Maresca said on Friday: “If I spend my energy on something different then it's not worth it.

“My focus is on tomorrow's game to be honest. In the last week I've done the same thing, focus on the game and how to prepare in the best way.

“The other things are things I cannot control. I spoke with Todd when we played [Manchester] City and Behdad just days ago, I'm speaking with both, there's no problems at all. I'm focused on the pitch.”

Both Boehly and Clearlake view their involvement in Chelsea as a long-term project and have no desire to sell their share to allow the other to complete a full takeover.

The professional relationship between the parties is said to be cordial and workable, but there are fears of an impasse if the two cannot agree on major decisions, in which both have sign-off.

"The players are professional to understand that these things are things we can't control so the focus is the pitch, the way we need to improve,” Maresca added.

"I don't know if something is going to happen, to be honest. I don't have an idea. The only thing I can say is that in terms of the football side, we are in the right direction and the team is improving.”

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