How Chelsea Are Avoiding Getting Banned Despite Signing Too Many Players
- Chelsea's transfer dealings continue to raise more questions and answers as Todd Boehly splashes top dollar on new players
- The club has used an excess of one billion pounds in new players since the American took over two seasons ago
- At a time when clubs are getting punished for flouting Fair Play Rules, Briefly News explains how Chelsea have remained in front of the curve
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There is popular banter going around that you might be walking down the streets, minding your business, and the next thing you know you are being presented as a new Chelsea player.
The Premier League giants have been relentless about signing 'stars for the future' since the Todd Boehly-led Clearlake consortium came in two years ago.
Source: Getty Images
From players who will join in future, like Estevao and Kendry Paez, to the ones currently at the club, like Marc Guiu. And this is before we talk about the big money moves like Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Mykhailo Mudryk.
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Why has Chelsea not been banned despite many signings?
At a time when Everton and Nottingham Forest have fallen foul of the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), many have wondered how Chelsea has yet to get caught in the Premier League's crosshairs.
For starters, PSR rules dictate that the maximum amount of losses a club is permitted to make over three seasons is £105m to regulate how clubs spend their money and promote fair play.
Why Chelsea are giving out lengthy contracts to its players
To circumvent this, Chelsea's first method was to hand out bizarre contracts to their players in a process called amortisation. Here, a player's transfer fee is spread across the number of years in his contract.
For example, Caicedo signed an eight-year contract when he arrived from Brighton for a British record fee of £115m. Rather than put this amount into one financial year, the Blues stretch the free out in eight years.
The Premier League has since intervened and implemented a rule limiting clubs to handing a maximum of five-year contracts to their players, as captured by ESPN.
Why Chelsea is selling its youth academy products
The other way has been the rampant sale of academy players. From an outside perspective, it makes no sense for a club to dedicate resources to nurturing a player only to sell them before or when they are in their prime.
Chelsea has already sold Ian Maatsen and Lewis Hall this summer to follow up on Mason Mount's departure last season. Now, when you sell youth players, the entire fee is recorded as profit as they did not cost anything to sign.
This explains why the club is adamant about 'disposing of' Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah during this window. The former was expected to join Atletico Madrid before negotiations broke down while the latter has been banned from first-team training.
"The intention of the club is not to sell players from the academy, but it is the rules that you have to do it. It’s not only us; it’s all the Premier League clubs. It’s a shame," said new Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca when quizzed about the topic, as quoted by the Athletic.
Selling players
The other straightforward way of being in line with the PSR rules is selling your players for a good fee. Chelsea made an excess of £120m from the sales of Kai Havertz and Mount last summer. The club is also keen on reducing its wage bill. Romelu Lukaku and Raheem Sterling are the biggest earners at the moment and have all been linked with a move away.
Selling of infrastructure
The Clearlake consortium also sold some of the club's hotels to its sister company towards the end of last season. As reported by the Guardian, the hotels brought in approximately £76.5m.
Whether these measures will be enough to save Chelsea remains to be seen, with the club still proactive on the transfer front. Pedro Neto recently arrived for a £54m fee. Joao Felix and Victor Osimhen are also linked with late moves to the Stamford Bridge tenants.
Conte lists Osimhen's transfer condition
Briefly News has also reported that Napoli coach Antonio Conte demanded two players to facilitate Victor Osimhen's transfer.
The Italian manager is reported to want the services of both Romelu Lukaku and Cesare Casadei, in addition to a significant transfer fee, to let go of the Nigerian striker
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Source: TUKO.co.ke
