A soccer finance expert has given Chelsea a stern warning in regards to their precarious Financial Fair Play position. The Blues have spent freely since American businessman Todd Boehly helped purchase the team in 2022. Since the new ownership took control of the club, they have spent over $1 billion on a plethora of new players.
This includes several high-profile purchases such as Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Mykhaylo Mudryk, and Wesley Fofana. Despite the free spending, Chelsea has still struggled on the pitch. The West London side currently sits 10th in the Premier League table after finishing 12th following the 2022/23 campaign.
As a result of this spending, Chelsea is now widely thought to have Financial Fair Play (FFP) problems with the league. Profit and sustainability rules (PSR) in England clearly state that clubs cannot post losses exceeding $130 million over three years. However, many experts claim that the Blues are dangerously close to receiving official charges of breaching these laws.
Blues will have to scramble to sell stars by the end of June
Former Manchester City advisor, Stefan Borson, is one of these experts. The finance guru recently discussed Chelsea’s potential problems during an interview on talkSPORT. Despite spending over $1 billion, Blues brass has spread out the costs by using amortization techniques. This allows clubs to pay transfer fees over several years due to awarding new players exceedingly long contracts.
“They’ve used the tricks of amortization,” Borson told talkSPORT. “(But) in my mind, there’s certainly trouble on the horizon and they’ll certainly fail FFP for the current season.”
“This is unless, and it seems to be very unlikely, by June 30th, they sell well over $125 million worth of players. But the window they can now do that, with the (January) window shutting is going to be very small.”
“The season is going to finish and then we’ve got the Euros. So, if you look at someone like Conor Gallagher, if Chelsea want to sell before June 30th, they’ll have to move very quickly.”
Gallagher has been linked with a move away from Chelsea for months now. Tottenham Hotspur was linked with the midfielder for much of the January window, but no deal was struck.
Chelsea faces harsh penalty for deliberate breach of Financial Fair Play
Not only do the Blues face problems with the league, but Borson believes that the club could face harsher penalties than Everton. The Toffees were previously handed a 10-point deduction for breaching the PSR laws by around $25 million. Chelsea, on the other hand, could even be docked more points.
“This breach Chelsea are lined up for is much bigger than Everton’s breach,” continued Borson. “And most importantly from an aggravating perspective, they (Premier League) will consider it a deliberate breach. Chelsea can’t hide behind building a stadium or inadvertently breaching FFP.”
Borson also says that Chelsea could face issues heading into the summer transfer period. “There’s no money in the game outside of the Premier League and Premier League teams are not stupid,” proclaimed Borson. “They’re not going to bite on crazy prices for players they don’t rate that highly when they know Chelsea are over a barrel.”
While the Blues will have to sell some key players in early summer, other clubs will certainly be aware of the club’s situation. This could very well mean that clubs will be looking to get a deal from a team in financial trouble. The only thing potentially saving Chelsea could be bidding wars for certain players.
PHOTOS: IMAGO.
