'Money doesn't work' - Erik ten Hag takes swipe at Chelsea & Todd Boehly for lacking a strategy amid catastrophic first season under new ownership

• Chelsea endured horror season
• Blues failed despite big spending
• Ten Hag made dig about strategy

WHAT HAPPENED? Ten Hag said Chelsea's dire first season since Todd Boehly took over the club in a deal worth more than £4 billion demonstrated that money alone will not guarantee success if it is not backed up by a strong strategy. United are the subject of their own takeover process right now, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani battling for the keys to Old Trafford.

WHAT THEY SAID: "You can have money but you have to spend it in the right way and have a strategy behind it, otherwise the money doesn’t work," Ten Hag told a press conference ahead of United's match with Chelsea. "In this moment a lot of good players, a lot of the best managers, a lot of the money it is all here in the United Kingdom. It is a great competition but also a hard competition. When there is no strategy or the right strategy money doesn’t work."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Chelsea have spent more than £600 million since Boehly took the reins of Chelsea last summer, following the sanctions against previous owner Roman Abramovich. However, the Blues have had a nightmare season, sacking two managers, and they are on course for their worst finish in the Premier League since 1993-1994.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? United play Chelsea on Thursday needing just one more point to clinch a top-four finish in the Premier League and seal a return to the Champions League. They then finish the season at home to Fulham on Sunday.