In this winter market, the Chelsea spent 365 million euros on the acquisition of eight players. Your spending in a month exceeds the combined for Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga and Serie A. Since the arrival of Todd Boehley, Chelsea have left 680 million in transfers, more than any other club in the world, which raises the question: Why can they do this?
The arrival of Enzo Fernández, in exchange for 120 million -the most expensive signing in the history of the Premier League-, of Mykhailo Mudrykfor 100 million, including the assignment of joao felixfor 11 million, or the additions of Noni Madueke and Benoit Badiashilefor 34 and 40 million, respectively, have raised doubts about how Chelsea is able to manage these operations in a context where the clubs’ accounts are more scrutinized than ever with controls such as of ‘Financial Fair Play’ .
The contracts
The first key to understanding the English waste is going through the duration of the contracts proposed by the club Stamford Bridgeas explained to EFE by the economist who specializes in soccer Kieran Maguire.
It is no coincidence that the deals for Mykhaylo Mudryk, Enzo Fernández, Badiashile and Madueke are beyond seven-year contracts.
In the case of Enzo and Mudryk, for example, they signed for eight and a half seasons, which allowed them to divide the transfer fee, including their salary, by eight. In other words, Chelsea will not lose 120 million + salary this season for signing the Argentine midfielder, but that number will be divided by eight and put into the accounts of the English team in each of the next eight seasons.
It’s a risky bet, because if the players don’t work out and have to leave for less than what they signed for, the payback will suffer and Chelsea could have big losses in the future. In this regard, Chelsea also impose these contracts on very young players, such as Malo Gusto, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana. This way, in case one is sold in the future for a higher price than the current one, the team will receive a boost in their accounts.
“This is Chelsea’s main strategy,” explained Maguire.
Premier League tracking
Chelsea’s threats come first at home, from the Premier League itself, and also from abroad, from UEFA. For several years now, football bodies have introduced mechanisms to prevent clubs from spending like crazy, trying to create a sense of equality in the sport.
In the case of the Premier, the regulations establish that clubs can only incur losses of up to 35 million pounds (40 million euros) per season for three years. That means, from the 2020/2021 season to 2023/2024, Chelsea can only show losses of 120 million in total. It has an asterisk, because the impact of covid gave relief to clubs, who were able to rely on it to show greater losses. For example, Chelsea in 2020/2021 lost 170 million euros, but covid allowed them to be cushioned without penalties.
To improve their accounts, clubs also have the possibility to present developments in their training centers, youth and women’s groups, as well as community assistance. In 2020/2021, these initiatives allowed Chelsea to deduct 85 million pounds (93 million euros).
Financial fair play
In Europe, Chelsea has less freedom, as UEFA allows a three-year loss of 30 million euros. Of course, this is where Chelsea plays with an advantage, as it can cover its losses against UEFA with its financial muscle, as the European body can approve losses as long as it understands that Chelsea is financially strong enough to support them.
In addition, the penalties of UEFA have not been excessive in recent years and PSG, the last team to be fined, almost did not have to pay 65 million euros -in different installments-.
new rules
With the ‘Financial Fair Play’ changes to be introduced in the 2023/2024 season, Chelsea need to be careful with their long-term contract strategy. Due to the juicy contracts offered to their new signings, Chelsea risk having too large a payroll, when UEFA will only allow 90% of the revenue to be directed to footballers, agents and signings. This percentage will decrease to 70%, which will be allowed in 2025/2026.
The Champions League, key
In this situation, it is important for Chelsea to qualify for the Champions League this season. Fighting for the Premier League is already an impossible task, so their only goal in the table is to reduce the difference of ten points to fourth place and compete for another year in the best competition on the old continent.
“If Chelsea don’t qualify, the situation will be complicated for the club,” Maguire added, pointing out that winning the Champions League two years ago brought Chelsea 120 million pounds (125 million euros), with additional money from sponsors and for the winner of the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
“For every euro you generate in the Champions League, you get 22 cents in the Europa League. One season without the Champions League is a problem, but if you go for four or five seasons, like Arsenal, with all the money spent by Chelsea. , it could be a very difficult situation for them,” added the economist.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
