Chelsea might be banned from European football next season according to former Everton CEO Keith Wyness after the latest confirmation from UEFA.
We all know Chelsea have spent big since the arrival of new owners. Spending over €1.32 billion on the player transfers alone is something astonishing. And always questions has been asked about how do they make that sort of money? It was answered by the brilliant business they have done with the sale of academy graduates who come for nothing and are sold for big money. But that is not the only business done by Chelsea. They have also sold some of the club properties to make mends with the PSR rules. Anyway according to Wyness, Chelsea have breached some of the rules confirmed by UEFA and this may lead to bans or fines for the club.
CHELSEA BUSINESS
Chelsea have done brilliant business off field since Blue Co have taken over the club in 2021. Pedro Neto was the 35th signing Chelsea made in the last two years. 35 signings ago Liverpool signed Joe Gomez that was back in 2015. Todd Boehly found a tweak in the FFP rules and made potential economic gains by providing long term contract to players.
So how did he do this? Chelsea gave eight and half year contract when they signed Mykhailo Mudryk in 2023. Similar eight ear contracts were given to players like Enzo Fernandes, Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson. Why did they do this? There are two reasons for this. With the fionancial wizardry of Todd Boehly he figured out that these long term contracts allowed club to spread the transfer fee over the entire duration of the contract. It’s like buying a Lamborgini with a 10 year payment plan. The Blues spend over 100 million pounds each for signing Caicedo and Enzo. But this 100 million ponds will be spread over the entire 8 years of his contract with the club.
The second advantage is tieing down young talented players for their entire footballing lifetime. For example Cole Palmer now has a nine year contract with Chelsea that is till 2033. So by the time his contract expires the player will be past his prime. This was a common practice in American sports like the American football and Baseball. Patrick Mahomes has a 10 year contract with Kansas City Chiefs. Boehly introduced that trick into the European football.
PROPERTY BUSINESS
Other than the player sales they also made some property sales in order to fit into the PSR regulations. The sales of club properties like a part of the Cobham training centre, club hotel and the women’s football department. These sales were actually made to a sister company. For example the Club hotel which was owned by Chelsea FC Holding Ltd, changed its ownership to Blue Co 22 Properties Limited. Both companies owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. According to Football Insider the hotel is valued at 76.5 million pounds. So that little ownership change earned them so much financial breathing space. Likewise the Cobham training ground and the women’s team are also sold.
WHAT DID KEITH WYNESS SAY?
Keith Wyness was the former chief of Everton football club. He acted as the CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009. In an exclusive given to Football Insider podcast he said that UEFA has recently confirmed that it will not allow club to register earnings made throiugh business with sister companies. He claims that this would put Chelsea in a potential financial breach. Possible punishments would include warning, fine or even a ban from European football. Although BBC Sports has reported that these sales have been agreed by Premier League. But Wyness thinks UEFA won’t approve these deals and Chelsea would be punished.
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