Gallas criticises boardroom civil war as he describes Chelsea as a real mess

A former Chelsea star has heavily criticised the boardroom civil war at the club.

Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are at loggerheads and are both looking to buy each other out.

Eghbali's Clearlake Capital are adamant that they won't sell their majority stake. They are eager to buy out Boehly and increase their stake in the club to at least 75 per cent.

Boehly, meanwhile, is eager to get his own new backers.

Chelsea have endured a chaotic time under the co-ownership of Boehly and Eghbali, with a host of players being signed and performances often lacking consistency.

William Gallas described the situation at Chelsea as 'a real mess' and added that it is difficult to have success when there are two people at the helm.

Gallas, who played for Chelsea between 2001 and 2006, told Prime Casino: 'The club is in a real mess. I think it's always difficult when you have two groups of people, or two stakes in one football club. There needs to be total alignment if you want to have a successful club, both on the pitch and in the boardroom.

'The best clubs have one leader, with everyone pulling in the same direction. It's not difficult to get the structure right at an elite club with the resources of Chelsea, but it's all over the place. The best owners don't want to get involved.

'They provide support, but most of these guys have no expertise in football or running football clubs. They employ a Sporting Director; the Sporting Director sets the philosophy and brings in the players and the right coach. It's a simple chain of command.'

Gallas was at Chelsea when Roman Abramovich took over in 2003 and the defender went on to win two Premier League titles with the Blues.

The former France international stated that the current situation at Chelsea is 'frustrating'.

'It works when you have the right people and the right communication. That's why the club were so successful during [Roman] Abramovich's time. If the owner trusts his Sporting Director, he normally agrees with all of his requests. There are too many people at Chelsea trying to call the shots.

'Honestly, it's very frustrating to see what is happening at Chelsea as a former player. As someone that won two titles with the club, it's really hard to accept what has happened to them over the last two years.'