Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has thanked outgoing co-owners Todd Boehly and Mark Walter, who have sold their stakes in the club, and hailed the ownership change as an "important day."
Boehly and Walter have sold their stakes in Chelsea -- having each owned 12.83% -- to give Clearlake Capital -- which previously held 61.5% -- full control of the London club.
The consortium bought Chelsea in 2022 for £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion), with a further £1.75 billion ($2.3 billion) committed to investment. The club's sale came after former owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by alleged ties to Russia president Vladimir Putin following the country's invasion of Ukraine.
Swiss philanthropist Hansjörg Wyss, who also owned a 12.83% stake, will remain a partner in the ownership group, the club has confirmed.
Chelsea manager Alonso said it was time to "move on together."
"I think it is an important day for the club when there is an important change in the structure of the club, new ownership," Alonso told a news conference on Thursday.
"Thanks to the former owners for what they have done. I was not here but I know that they played an important role. And now that Behdad [Eghbali] is taking more control, or almost full control, I think it is good that the main one is clear.
"I have a very good relationship with Behdad; he was the one who came to Madrid to explain the project to convince me and we are working well together. As I have mentioned, this is phase one we have completed in project of the squad. It is good and now we move on together."
Eghbali, as well as Jose E. Feliciano, leads Clearlake Capital, a private equity firm.
Asked how long it will now take for Chelsea to compete for major titles, Alonso said: "That is why we are here. To work to get into that position, knowing that the competition that we have but for sure the ambition of the club, the potential of the club, the dimensions of the players, of where we are. We know where we want to be."
Alonso would not be drawn on the nature of the injury to João Pedro, who has withdrawn from Brazil squad ahead of the upcoming international window.
Alonso did say that nobody has been ruled out of Friday's clash with Brentford and conceded it's possible João Pedro plays but does not play for Brazil.
"In terms of injuries and in terms of the squad, we are having the last training session tomorrow so no one is ruled out for us for Friday so I prefer to be cautious and we will be waiting until tomorrow to make the final decision on every player," he said.
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