Todd Boehly enraged Thierry Henry with brazen Mohamed Salah claim

25 November 2023 , 09:30

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Todd Boehly made comments about Mohamed Salah and Chelsea's academy last year (Image: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was left irritated by comments from Todd Boehly shortly after the American took charge of Chelsea.

Boehly completed a takeover of the Blues in the summer of 2022, replacing former owner Roman Abramovich. The billionaire also has Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers as part of his portfolio.

Just a couple of months after completing the takeover of Chelsea worth £4.25 billion, Boehly made some bizarre remarks about the club's academy and its former players. Speaking at the SALT conference in New York in September last year, the Chelsea owner claimed that players such as Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne progressed through the club's academy.

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"We have one of the best academies in the world," said Boehly in September 2022. "If you look at what our academy has developed, our academy is Mo Salah, Kevin De Bruyne. More recently, Tammy Abraham, Reece James, Mason Mount, Trevoh Chalobah

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"We have 10 or 11 players right now that are either on loan and controlled by us, we have the right to buy them back, or they're playing for our team or academy."

These comments bemused several people, including Henry. The former Arsenal and Barcelona forward slammed the remarks from Boehly and offered the Chelsea owner some advice after he claimed De Bruyne and Salah as Chelsea's own.

Henry told CBS Sports last September: "Did he say a lesson? A lesson? What’s that supposed to mean? What are they trying to teach? A lesson?

"Are you a teacher or something? The comment about De Bruyne and Mo Salah - just learn your own lessons and then come back and teach us something."

Both Salah and De Bruyne previously spent time at Stamford Bridge earlier in their respective careers, but were signed for multi-million-pound transfer fees. Chelsea paid Genk £6.7 million to sign De Bruyne in January 2012, while Salah arrived from Basel for £11 million in January 2014.

Mohamed Salah made nine appearances for Chelsea before leaving the club in 2016 (PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

De Bruyne and Salah would go on to make 28 combined appearances for Chelsea during their brief spells in West London. Salah scored two goals during his time for the club, while De Bruyne failed to find the back of the net.

It was after leaving Chelsea that both De Bruyne and Salah managed to reach the pinnacle of their respective career. Manchester City signed De Bruyne for £54 million in August 2015 from Wolfsburg, while Liverpool agree a deal with Fiorentina worth up to £43.7 million in 2017.

Since leaving Chelsea, both Salah and De Bruyne have won every major trophy available to Man City and Liverpool, respectively. Boehly is yet to win a trophy during his brief time as Chelsea owner, with a 12th-place finish in the Premier League last season.

Mark Wakefield