Boehly is currently chairman of Chelsea, but under terms set when the consortium bought the club from Roman Abramovich for £2.3bn in 2022, a Clearlake-appointed representative is due to take over at the end of the season.
This would further diminish Boehly’s influence. He was initially the public face of the takeover and later acted as interim sporting director during the first transfer window of the new regime.
Since 2023, Eghbali has become the most influential figure at Chelsea, playing a major role in transfer business, while several senior executives have departed within the first two years of the ownership.
Some at Chelsea and within the ownership group downplay any rift, pointing to images of the pair together at key matches, notably the FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
However, ongoing discussions about either redeveloping Stamford Bridge or moving to a new stadium have created tension.
Both Boehly’s camp and Clearlake are believed to prefer leaving the current site, but they differ over the project’s design and scale—points Boehly hinted at in a Bloomberg interview last March.
He said they need to take a long-term view of their goals and that a major stadium development must be fully worked through—an issue that could determine whether they remain aligned or ultimately go separate ways.
Chelsea and representatives for Boehly, Walter and Clearlake declined to comment.