Todd Boehly has questioned why Chelsea did not make an approach for Aurelien Tchouameni.
The French midfielder moved to Real Madrid from Monaco this summer in a deal which could reach £88million.
Premier League side Chelsea were interested in Tchouameni last summer, but instead plumped for Saul Niguez on loan - a decision which has reportedly left new Blues owner Boehly baffled.
According to Sport, the US tycoon - who replaced previous owner Roman Abramovich in May - is confused about why previous transfer chief Marina Granovskaia, who has since left, opted against the move.
The club reportedly had concerns about Tchouameni's ability to contribute to the first team straight away.
Niguez arrived on transfer deadline day from Atletico Madrid but failed to impress, only making 10 league appearances, mostly from the bench, and scoring one goal.
Tchouameni, 22, is now impressing with Carlo Ancelotti's Los Blancos side, playing regularly at the base of the midfield for the Champions League holders and for World Cup winners France.
Boehly sanctioned a lavish summer of spending at Stamford Bridge, with more than £270m spent on new players including Raheem Sterling, Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly.
But the club have issues in midfield, with N'Golo Kante, 31, and 30-year-old Jorginho both in the last year of their contracts.
Kedainrsuz
86
we also dont understand why he fired Tuchel
Holuwhapamilerin
49
GRANOVAKAIA to BOEHLY after seeing this news be like I only know ABRAMOVIC as the OWNER during that TIME
FaithEvans
39
Unpopular opinion: Marina Granovskaia is not that good. She benefitted from Abramovic wealth, which means they throw money at every problem and when it doesn't work, they just rip out the player from the pages of the team and throw money at another... It's very obvious that Saul Niguez has been declining for years before Chelsea bought him, so was Ross Barkley and Danny Drinkwater. Malang Sarr was never good enough, Kepa Arrizabalaga played one year at top level and they gave him a 7 year contract making him the most expensive goalkeeper in the world, how many times will Romelu Lukaku play badly in the EPL before u recognize he just doesn't fit, and to let Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud leave to accommodate him is almost criminal... don't even get me started on Timo Werner whose style of play required swatches of space he would never find in EPL. It's perfectly reasonable that a new owner spending over $4B to takeover the club and spend wisely wouldn't require the services of Marina Granovskaia, a serial money waster.
MadridMaldives
28
Everything happens for a good reason: he was destined to play for the best and the most successful club of all time. 😍🤩
Pebabeikmu
9
we also dont understand why he fired Tuchel
Tuchel was beginning to loose it, from last season even, how can play almost 3 finals without winning one, how can u lead Madrid 3-0 when all u needed was a 2:0 win yet u fumbled when adding strikers instead of defenders, do u want to win Madrid 5-0 @ Benabue? Tuchel has no other sense in him, playing Joginho every time left right and center even when d guy is consistently flopping is another height of his foolishness... he deserves d sacking abeg