London, October 22, 2025 – As Chelsea lick their wounds from a gritty 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground – a result that sees Enzo Maresca’s Blues cling to fourth place with 19 points from 11 games – whispers of a January transfer splash have reignited the powder keg surrounding co-owner Todd Boehly. Reports from The Chelsea Chronicle and Portuguese outlet A Bola suggest the club is reviving interest in Samu Aghehowa, the 20-year-old Nigerian striker who slipped through their fingers last summer after a near-miss deal with Atletico Madrid. Boehly, the Hollywood producer turned football impresario, will face “real scrutiny” if this “pointless move” materializes, according to Chronicle columnist Alex Keble, who warns it exemplifies the scattergun spending that’s hemorrhaged £1.2 billion since his 2022 takeover without a single trophy to show.
Aghehowa, the 6’4” powerhouse dubbed “the next Victor Osimhen” for his aerial dominance and blistering pace, was on the cusp of a £40 million switch to Stamford Bridge in July 2024. Chelsea scouts, embedded at Atletico’s Wanda Metropolitano, salivated over his 12-goal haul in La Liga that season, viewing him as the long-term heir to Olivier Giroud. But Boehly’s consortium balked at Atletico’s last-minute £5 million hike, allowing Porto to swoop for €25 million (£21m). Since then, Aghehowa has exploded: 14 goals in 15 Primeira Liga outings this term, including a hat-trick in last week’s 4-0 demolition of Boavista, propelling Porto to second behind Sporting CP. His xG overperformance (1.2 per 90) and duel-win rate (72%) have him on the cusp of a Nigeria senior call-up, with Manchester United and Arsenal now circling.
Yet, for Chelsea – flush with forward firepower after a £150 million summer spree on Liam Delap (£30m from Ipswich), Pedro Neto (£54m from Wolves), and Joao Felix’s permanent £45m return – Aghehowa smacks of redundancy. Nicolas Jackson, the 23-year-old Senegalese speedster, leads the line with seven goals in 11, his counter-attacking verve embodying Maresca’s fluid 4-2-3-1. Delap, the raw Mancunian bull, has netted four off the bench, while Noni Madueke and Alejandro Garnacho provide rotational bite. “It’s a pointless addition,” Keble thundered in his Chronicle piece. “Boehly dodged a £51m bullet last year – Enzo’s thanking him now. Reviving this? It’s ego over strategy, with our PSR margins razor-thin after the women’s team sale scrutiny.”
The Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) elephant looms large. Chelsea, already slapped with a £10 million fine last season for breaching spending caps, engineered a controversial internal sale of their women’s team to BlueCo22 Midco Limited for “tens of millions” in paper profit – a maneuver The Times revealed is under Premier League review for fair market value. Boehly’s BlueCo, alongside Clearlake Capital’s Behdad Eghbali, has funneled £1.2 billion into 35 signings since 2022, including flops like Enzo Fernández (£107m, now benched sporadically) and Mykhailo Mudryk (£88m, five goals in 18 months). ESPN’s Mark Ogden dissected the “mystery” strategy in July: phases of chaos under Boehly’s interim sporting director stint, followed by a data-driven pivot that’s yielded gems like Cole Palmer (seven goals, 10 assists) but alienated fans with multiclub meddling and a barren trophy cabinet. “Three years in, transfers still don’t make sense,” Ogden wrote, citing the £14m overpay for a target to avoid the “unlucky” number 13 – a Boehly quirk that irked rivals.
Fan scrutiny, simmering since Boehly’s sweatpants-clad pitch invasions and All-Star game pipe dreams, boils over at this Aghehowa revival. Stamford Bridge protests in March – 500 ultras chanting “Boehly out” after a 2-0 Arsenal drubbing – underscored the disconnect, with The Guardian’s Jonathan Wilson labeling him a “self-styled revolutionary facing failure.” Social media erupts: #BoehlyOut trends with 150k posts, memes juxtaposing Aghehowa’s Porto highlights against Jackson’s Forest equalizer (a 78th-minute volley from Garnacho’s cross). “Sell Pedro or Delap first, then talk,” one X user fumed. Keble echoes: “If they offload one, fine – but as is, it’s pointless, bloating a squad already at 42 seniors.”
Maresca, touchline-bound for his exuberant Liverpool celebrations, navigated the Forest stalemate with grit: Cucurella’s shutdown of Morgan Gibbs-White and Caicedo’s midfield steel earning a point despite Palmer’s ongoing groin absence (November return eyed). Post-match, the Italian tactician sidestepped transfers: “We focus on now – depth is our strength, not weakness.” Yet, behind scenes, co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley – soon joined by Dave Fallows – push Aghehowa dossiers, per Sky Sports. Porto’s €60m (£52m) valuation, plus add-ons, tests PSR limits, especially with Champions League revenue dangling if Chelsea snag a top-four spot.
Boehly’s blueprint – youth, resale, global brand – shines in Estêvão’s Liverpool heroics and Garnacho’s £80m dazzle, but shadows linger from Lukaku’s £97.5m farce (reps warned Boehly of instant exit) and a power struggle with Eghbali, who eyes buying out the chairman’s 13% stake amid Stamford Bridge redevelopment stalls. FourFourTwo’s timeline of “flops, fallouts, and fans’ wrath” paints a chaotic portrait: from 2022’s Boehly-led spree to 2024’s PSR dances. Reviving Aghehowa? It risks tipping the scales from ambition to absurdity.
As Chelsea host AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday – a must-win after a Benfica draw – Boehly watches from LA, his Eldridge Industries empire humming. But Anfield’s ghost (Cucurella’s Salah stranglehold) and Forest’s resolve demand focus, not folly. Keble’s scrutiny rings true: “Boehly’s under the microscope – one more misstep, and the revolution implodes.” For a club reborn in blue ambition, the Aghehowa chase isn’t just pointless; it’s perilous. Fans chant for silverware, not signatures. Boehly, heed the roar – or face the reckoning.
