2022–23 Chelsea F.C. season

On 23 May, it was announced that long-serving goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon would leave the club after having joined from Rennes in 2007 to help with the training of former goalkeeper Petr Čech.^[6]

On 28 May, Chelsea released a statement via the club website stating that "Chelsea Football Club can confirm that a final and definitive agreement was entered into last night to sell the Club to the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital consortium. It was expected that the transaction would be completed on Monday."^[7] The consortium led by Todd Boehly, chairman and CEO of Eldridge Industries, and Clearlake Capital, announced completion of the ownership transfer of Chelsea on 30 May 2022. The consortium also includes Hansjörg Wyss, founder of the Wyss Foundation, and Mark Walter, co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Partners. Walter and Boehly are partial owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Sparks. The transaction has received all necessary approvals from The Government of the United Kingdom, The Premier League, and other authorities.^[8]

It was announced on 20 June that long-serving Chairman Bruce Buck would step-down after 19 years in the role effective on 30 June.^[9] A further statement was released on 22 June announcing a new-look Board of Directors including Boehly, Eghbali, Feliciano, Walter, Wyss as well as Jonathan Goldstein, Barbara Charone, Daniel Finkelstein and James Pade. It was also revealed that long serving Marina Granovskaia left the club, with Boehly acting as interim Sporting Director as well as chairman.^[10] The club then announced on 27 June that Petr Čech would leave his role as technical and performance advisor at the end of the month.^[11]

On 13 July, Chelsea announced their first signing of the season, with English international winger Raheem Sterling joining the club for a reported fee of £47.5 million.^[12] Three days later, they completed the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly for a reported fee of £33 million.^[13]

In the first match of the new Premier League season, Chelsea defeated Everton 1–0 at Goodison Park, with Jorginho scoring a penalty.^[14] The second game of the season saw Chelsea face their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge.^[15] After a relatively quiet first half, Chelsea went into the break 1–0 up courtesy of defender Kalidou Koulibaly's first goal for the club – a volley from a Marc Cucurella corner. Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Pierre-Emile Højbjerg equalised in the 68th minute, with Chelsea players and manager, Thomas Tuchel, unhappy that Kai Havertz had been fouled in the build-up to the goal, as well as Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison being in an offside position and obstructing Chelsea goalkeeper Édouard Mendy's view of Højbjerg's shot. In the aftermath of the goal, Tuchel squared up to Tottenham Hotspur manager, and former Chelsea boss, Antonio Conte, after Conte's exuberant celebrations. Both managers were shown yellow cards.^[16] Chelsea regained the lead through right-back Reece James' composed finish in the 77th minute. Tottenham Hotspur equalised again in the 96th minute, after Harry Kane had headed in from a corner. Once again, Tuchel and the Chelsea players were unhappy that Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero had pulled on Marc Cucurella's hair at the previous corner – an incident which had been reviewed by VAR referee Mike Dean.^[17] Both the referee and VAR admitted a mistake was made, during the hair pulling incident. Following the full-time whistle, there was another heated confrontation between Tuchel and Conte, with referee Anthony Taylor showing both straight red cards. In his post-match press conference, Tuchel stated that he was frustrated with the refereeing decisions against his team, and when asked about the supporters' view that Taylor has a history of making decisions against Chelsea, he replied: "I don't think just some of the fans think that. I can assure you the whole dressing room of us, every single person, thinks that".^[17] He went on to say that "of course" his players were worried when they had learned of Taylor's appointment to this game, and replied "maybe it would be better" when asked if Taylor should not referee Chelsea games in future.^[17] In the third league match, Chelsea travelled to Elland Road to face rivals Leeds United and suffered a heavy 3–0 defeat, the first of the season, leaving them five points behind league leaders Arsenal.^[18]

During the first week of September long time serving head of international scouting Scott McLachlan left the club. He had been on gardening leave for three months after being in his post for the last eleven years – during which he oversaw both the men's and youth recruitment during a significant portion of the Roman Abramovich era.^[19]

On 6 September, Chelsea started their UEFA Champions League campaign away to Dinamo Zagreb, losing 1–0.^[20] Shortly after the loss, Tuchel was sacked by the club.^[21]

On 8 September, Chelsea announced Graham Potter as their new head coach.^[22] Potter's debut match for Chelsea saw the Blues’ draw against Red Bull Salzburg 1–1 in a home Champions League match, with a Raheem Sterling goal.^[23] In Potter's second match, Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 2–1 away from home. In his third match in charge, Chelsea trounced Milan 3–0 at Stamford Bridge, improving their position in the Champions League. They also won the reverse fixture away from home 2–0 top go top of their group. In between the two UCL games, Chelsea easily dispatched of Wolverhampton, 3–0. Chelsea's good form continued, as they defeated Aston Villa 2–0 on the road, with a Mason Mount brace. Overall, Potter won five and drew one of his first six matches in charge.

However, in the next 19 league matches, Chelsea only managed 4 wins and seven draws, while sustaining eight losses culminating in a 0–2 home defeat to Aston Villa. As a result, the team dropped to 11th and Graham Potter was sacked on 2 April 2023. Chelsea were also out of both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup after losing to Manchester City in the third round of both competitions although they unexpectedly knocked out Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League round of 16 (0–1 away, 2–0 home). He was replaced by interim Bruno Saltor until 6 April,^[3] when a new interim, Frank Lampard, was hired until the end of the season.^[4] Lampard had already led Chelsea in the 2019–20 and the first half of 2020–21 seasons. In Lampard's first match on 8 April 2023, Chelsea lost 0–1 in an away game against Wolves.^[24]

Chelsea ended the season in 12th place after only managing 1 win and 2 draws, while sustaining 6 losses, in their nine league games under Lampard ending with a home draw to Newcastle United, capping off a turbulent first season under new ownership. As they had also been knocked out of the Champions League after losing 4–0 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, they did not participate in European football the following season for the first time since 2016–17, the most recent time they won the Premier League.^[25][26]

Chelsea announced they would travel to the United States to take part in the FC Series with a friendly against Arsenal.^[146] A month later the club announced two further fixtures as part of the FC Series, against América and Charlotte FC.^[147] On 6 July, Chelsea confirmed they would play Udinese in Italy after the American tour.^[148]

During the mid-season winter break, The club announced a friendly with Aston Villa in Abu Dhabi.^[149]

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