Manuel Sanchez Gomez |
London (EFE).- In this winter market, Chelsea disbursed 365 million euros in the hiring of eight players. His spending in a single month has exceeded the combined for the League, Ligue 1, the Bundesliga and Serie A. Since the arrival of Todd Boehly, Chelsea has left 680 million in transfers, more than any other club in the world, which raises the question: Why can he do it?
The arrival of Enzo Fernández, in exchange for 120 million -the most expensive signing in the history of the Premier League-, of Mykhaylo Mudryk, for 100 million, plus the transfer of Joao Félix, for 11 million, or the additions of Noni Madueke and Benoit Badiashile, for 34 and 40 million, respectively, have raised doubts about how Chelsea is capable of handling these operations in a context in which club accounts are more under scrutiny than ever with controls such as ‘Fair Play’ Financial’.
The contracts
The first key to understanding the waste of the English goes through the duration of the contracts proposed by the Stamford Bridge club, according to what the economist specialized in soccer Kieran Maguire explained to EFE.
It is no coincidence that the agreements for Mykhaylo Mudryk, Enzo Fernández, Badiashile and Madueke go beyond the seven-year contract.
In the case of Enzo and Mudryk, for example, they have signed for eight and a half seasons, which allows them to divide the cost of the transfer, plus their salary, by eight. In other words, Chelsea will not have a loss of 120 million + salary this season for signing the Argentine midfielder, but that figure will be divided by eight and will be entered into the English team’s accounts in each of the next eight seasons.
This is a risky bet, as should the players not work out and have to leave for less than what they were signed for, the payback will suffer and Chelsea may incur significant losses in the future. In turn, Chelsea also imposes these contracts on very young players, such as Malo Gusto, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana. In this way, in the event that 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,” explains Maguire.
Surveillance of the Premier League
Chelsea’s threats come first from home, from the Premier League itself, and also from abroad, from UEFA. For a few 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 in a period of three years. That is to say, from the 2020/2021 season to 2023/2024, Chelsea can only present losses of 120 million in total. This has its asterisk, since the impact of the covid gave the clubs a breather, which have been able to rely on it to present greater losses. For example, Chelsea in 2020/2021 lost 170 million euros, but the covid allowed them to be cushioned without sanctions.
To embellish their accounts, the clubs also have the possibility of presenting developments in their training centers, youth and women’s teams, as well as aid to the community. In 2020/2021 these initiatives allowed Chelsea to deduct 85 million pounds (93 million euros).
Financial Fair Play
In Europe, Chelsea has even less leeway, since UEFA allows a three-year loss of 30 million euros. Of course, here Chelsea plays with an advantage, since it can compensate its losses against UEFA with its financial muscle, since the European body can approve the losses as long as it understands that Chelsea is strong enough financially to support them.
In addition, UEFA’s sanctions have not been excessive in recent years and PSG, the last team fined, barely had to pay 65 million euros -in various installments-.
new rules
With the changes to the ‘Financial Fair Play’ that will be introduced in the 2023/2024 season, Chelsea will have to be careful with their long-term contract strategy. With the juicy contracts offered to their brand new signings, Chelsea risks having too large a payroll, when UEFA will only allow 90% of the income directed to footballers, agents and signings. This percentage will drop to 70%, which will be allowed in 2025/2026.
The Champions League, key
In this scenario, it is essential for Chelsea to qualify for the Champions League this season. Fighting for the Premier League is already an impossible task, so their only objective in the table is to reduce the difference of ten points with fourth place and compete for another year in the best competition on the old continent.
“If Chelsea does not qualify, the scenario will be very complicated for the club,” adds Maguire, who points out that winning the Champions League two years ago brought Chelsea 120 million pounds (125 million euros), plus additional money from sponsors and for winning the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
«For every euro you generate in the Champions League, you generate 22 cents in the Europa League. A season without Champions is a problem, but if you go to four or five seasons, like Arsenal, with all the money Chelsea has spent, it can be a very difficult situation for them,” adds the economist.
