As the cliché goes, money makes the world go round. That’s usually true in the world of soccer, where there’s a pretty clear correlation between spending and success on the pitch. However, Chelsea could run into a problem that Todd Boehly’s bankroll can’t solve.
Since the American arrived in west London, the Blues have had no problem opening up their metaphorical checkbook and buying up virtually any player with a passing interest in coming to the capital. And while there’s room to discuss the wisdom of these steps from a team-building perspective, it seems like there might be another downside.
According to a recent report, the club could be breaking Premier League financial rules over the amount of losses they have recorded over the past three years. If that’s the case, Chelsea could sell some players as soon as possible or face the consequences.
The end of the Premier League season could put Chelsea in financial distress
Whilst there is no salary cap in European football, there are some measures in place to try to keep clubs’ spending within reason. And while those are mostly toothless – just ask any supporter about financial fair play – Chelsea could still find themselves in a sticky spot.
As pointed out by Martyn Ziegler in The Times, the west London club could find themselves in trouble after the current season ends. Premier League rules state that a club cannot lose more than £105m over a three-year period. The Blues haven’t crossed that line just yet, but once the campaign ends, the ledger will turn. The 2019-20 figures, which showed a profit of £32.5m, will disappear from the balance sheet. They will be replaced by the 2021-22 spending, which has been reported as a loss of £121m.
What does that mean? Although nothing is official yet, it seems like the club will have to sell some players as soon as possible.
“Kieran Maguire, a football finance writer, said the club would be ‘dancing on the head of a pin’ to try not to breach Premier League financial rules, which exceed maximum losses of £105m, by this time next year allow a rolling three-year period,” Ziegler wrote. “Maguire said Chelsea may have to raise large sums of money from player sales in order not to break the rules. Last week, the Premier League charged Everton with breaching its profit and sustainability rules after three seasons of heavy financial losses.
It’s also worth noting that the Blues could also be investigated by UEFA for financial fair play violations. However, as of now, Chelsea will not be playing European football next season, eliminating this threat.
And to further complicate matters, potential sales would have to occur before June 30 to be included in the relevant fiscal year. Although there’s no guarantee it would matter at all – Everton attempted this by sending Richarlison to Spurs last summer and was still referred to an independent commission so it’s unclear how much that sale represents – adds there’s still a bit more (potential) urgency to add to the timeline.
While Chelsea’s large squad could facilitate the sale, the club is still in a less advantageous position
Before proceeding, I would like to reiterate that we are dealing here with hypotheses. Chelsea aren’t in trouble just yet and as far as we know they could avoid trouble. The Times story and Maguire quotes used terms like “might get in trouble” and “might have to raise large sums of money,” so nothing is given up, especially when COVID-19 allowances, sanctions and paybacks are on the table.
However, let’s assume that Chelsea has to sell to balance its books. This may not be as easy as it sounds.
When sales need a decent chunk of change, we can afford to ignore academy players; No matter how talented they may be, you can’t oversell a player who isn’t ready to make a difference. That means the blues have to move bigger names.
But as we recently saw, selling unwanted players for massive wages isn’t easy. In theory, would a smaller team like someone like Kalidou Koulibaly or Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, both of whom seem redundant at Stamford Bridge? Of course, but this is where salary becomes a problem. Taking the Senegalese defender as an example, he is Chelsea’s second-highest earner and reportedly takes home £295,000 a week. It’s unlikely any club outside of Europe’s elite would be willing to shoulder that burden and if someone did, the high salaries would likely mean a lower transfer fee.
And even if we look at players who should be easier to sell, like Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher, there’s another problem. If I, someone who has no particular knowledge of Premier League finances beyond reading a newspaper article, have reason to believe that Todd Boehly needs to raise money as soon as possible, it’s safe to assume that the other 19 clubs have a better idea of what’s going on behind scenes. That puts Chelsea in a position of weakness when it comes to negotiations. Making a sale is hard enough; It’s almost impossible to do this if the other party knows you need to sell and will do so by a certain date.
Again, this is all hypothetical and there are many unknowns. Perhaps there is reckoning with COVID-19 and the sanctions imposed on the club at the end of Roman Abramovich’s tenure, leaving Chelsea a little more leeway. Perhaps Chelsea know that the magic number is actually manageable and believes they can easily reach it with a few simple sales.
However, if the suspects are correct, the west London club could face a difficult situation in the coming months. And in a rare twist for football, no amount of spending can solve the problem.
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