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Former England striker Gary Lineker has taken a dig at Chelsea owner Todd Boehly for suggesting that the Premier League should have an All-Star game.
Boehly has grabbed headlines for various reasons since taking Chelsea over from Roman Abramovich in May. He was the subject of criticism when he named himself the interim sporting director of the club in June.
The American businessman then allowed Thomas Tuchel to splurge close to £300 million in the summer. However, he pulled the plug on the 49-year-old just six days after the transfer window closed.
Boehly was also severely trolled after it emerged he pitched an impossible '4-4-3' formation during early talks with Tuchel. He has once again come under the spotlight after he floated the idea of a Premier League All-Star match. The Chelsea owner was quoted as saying by The Guardian:
"I hope the Premier League takes a little bit of a lesson from American sports. And really starts to figure out, why don’t we do a tournament with the bottom four sports teams, why isn’t there an All-Star game?"
"People are talking about more money for the pyramid; in the MLB All-Star game this year we made $200m from a Monday and a Tuesday. So we’re thinking we could do a North versus South All-Star game for the Premier League, for whatever the pyramid needed quite easily."
Boehly, who owns shares in Major League Baseball outfit Los Angeles Dodgers and the Lakers in the National Basketball Association, floated the idea to help smaller clubs financially. However, not many are open to the idea of Americanizing the Premier League.
Lineker is among those who have trolled the Blues owner for his suggestion. The former Leicester City striker belittled Boehly's idea by insisting football already has All-Star games in the shape of internationals. He wrote on Twitter:
"Hey Todd [Boehly], we already have All-Star games. They’re called internationals."
How have Chelsea fared under Boehly's regime?
Boehly backed Tuchel significantly in the recently-concluded transfer window. Chelsea made nine new additions, including Wesley Fofana, Raheem Sterling and Marc Cucurella, to their squad in the summer.
However, the Blues got their 2022-23 season off to a poor start under the German tactician. They currently sit sixth in the Premier League with 10 points, having won three, lost two and drawn one of their six matches so far.
The Stamford Bridge outfit succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in their UEFA Champions League opener last week. That was the straw that broke the camel's back as Tuchel was sacked hours after the match.
Boehly has since replaced the German with Graham Potter, who has put an end to a fruitful three-year stint with Brighton & Hove Albion.
