By Kieran Maguire

3rd Sep, 2023 | 10:50am

Kieran Maguire calls for Chelsea U-turn after 'foolish' decision

Chelsea should reverse their ‘foolish’ and ‘careless’ decision to withdraw the subsidy for away travel.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that Todd Boehly’s decision is a ‘disappointment’.

The Blues announced on Monday (28 August) that they have removed the coach subsidy for domestic away travel.

The decision comes despite the London club breaking Premier League records for their level of spending in the transfer window, with Chelsea now spending over £1billion on new signings since the arrival of Boehly.

Maguire explains that Chelsea have also paid huge amounts to former board members Marina Granovskaia and Bruce Buck in recent seasons but have drawn the line at coach funding.

“Todd Boehly’s decision to withdraw the subsidy for away travel is a disappointment,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“It does provide a significant form of assistance for the demographic of people who tend to travel by coach.

“You tend to have more elderly fans, people who are disabled and need assistance, and often families with kids.

“It is a disappointment and it further reinforces the view held by some that Chelsea are penny-wise and foolish given the amount of money they have been spending on transfer fees.

“Chelsea also recently spent £49.7million on pay-offs to Marina Granovskaia and Bruce Buck following their departure from the club and their involvement in the takeover.

“So the club is more than willing to spend money assisting people who are already extremely rich.

“To those who have less financial resources, it comes across as a very careless and uncaring decision which one would hope will be reversed.“

In other news, Chelsea close to completing Maatsen deal as Burnley rejected