Chelsea will likely have to drastically alter their transfer plans soon as Premier League clubs assembled for a routine meeting on Tuesday about amortization. The 20 clubs in the top flight discussed putting a cap on spreading out transfer payments on players. The English top-flight teams eventually voted to pass the rule. Now, clubs must pay off transfer fees within five years.
Amortization is a process of gradually writing off the initial cost of an asset. In soccer, this is done by signing a player to an extremely long contract and spreading out the transfer fee over the entire duration of the deal. Spreading out the transfer fees helps clubs avoid Financial Fair Play (FFP) violations.
Chelsea has regularly given out unusually long contracts to new signings since Todd Boehly purchased the club. In fact, Wesley Fofana, Benoît Badiashile, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Enzo Fernandez all joined the club on seven or eight-year deals. The Ukrainian international’s contract of eight-and-a-half years is the longest in Premier League history.
UEFA introduced a similar rule change in summer
UEFA previously took notice of Chelsea’s financial tactic and introduced a five-year amortization cap earlier this summer. However, the move by the governing body has not yet affected the Blues. This is because the west London outfit did not qualify for a UEFA competition for the current campaign. Chelsea finished a disappointing 12th in the Premier League table after the 2022/23 campaign. The Blues would ultimately have to adhere to the updated rules if they played in the Champions League, Europa League, or Europa Conference.
While Chelsea is also 12th in the current standings, the vote by the Premier League now affects the club’s business. Several teams, including most of the ‘Big Six,’ were in favor of the rule change. Chelsea, however, voted to keep the current transfer laws in place.
There was also concern for the Blues that the Premier League amortization cap could be backdated to this past summer. Nevertheless, this was not the case. Chelsea spent over $500 million on a plethora of new players during the recent transfer window. Among the spending spree was a massive deal for Moises Caicedo for around $125 million. The dynamic midfielder was, of course, given an eight-year contract as well.
Chelsea plans more transfers despite Premier League stuffing amortization
The new financial rule change could also directly affect Chelsea’s upcoming January transfer plans. Despite recording a net spend of nearly $800 million since Boehly took over at the helm, Chelsea has not improved on the pitch. As a result, TEAMtalk is claiming that the Blues will undergo yet another player overhaul. Nevertheless, the club will now have to be careful of their spending due to the Premier League amortization cap.
The news outlet is also reporting that the Blues may sell up to seven first-team players next month to fund the undertaking. Among the players possibly on the chopping block are Noni Madueke, Marc Cucurella, and Axel Disasi. The latter defender only just arrived at the team in August for around $48 million.
PHOTOS: IMAGO.
