UEFA are slamming door shut on Chelsea transfer loophole worth £85m to Blues

24 January 2023 , 17:14

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Todd Boehly's loophole to avoid FFP rules is being closed (Image: IKIMAGES/AFP via Getty Images)

UEFA are to put new guidelines in place in time for the summer to stop clubs like Chelsea from exploiting Financial Fair Play by using long-term contracts.

However, our investigation has found that Chelsea's new owners have already managed to boost their spending power by a staggering £85m during their first eight months in charge.

FFP was introduced generally to ensure clubs do not spend more money in transfers and wages than they are able to earn. In working out that balance, transfer fees are accounted for over the entire length of the player's contract, with add-ons only included as and when they are triggered.

By that token, Mykhaylo Mudryk's £88m move, including a potential £26m in add-ons, from Shakhtar Donetsk goes onto this year’s annual FFP accounts as just £7.3m when the initial amount is split over the length of his Premier League record-breaking eight-and-a-half year contract.

However, after complaints from other clubs about Chelsea's recent transfer activity in particular, UEFA will change the accounting rules to insist the transfer be split over a maximum of just five years. An assessment of Chelsea's recent activity reveals the incredible extent to which the London club have been able to take advantage of the current system.

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Of the mammoth £460m already spent by Todd Boehly's consortium, an up-front £298m has been spent on players who have tied themselves to Stamford Bridge for longer than five years. By doing that, the impact on Chelsea's FFP balance has been watered down to just £42.7m.

Under the new rules, though, being forced to stick to the same FFP restraint would only have enabled Chelsea to spend a maximum of £213.5m - £85m less than they have actually been able to get away with spending.

Outgoings in transfers, wages, finance costs, dividends and amortisation of transfers are compared to income from gate receipts, TV revenue, advertising, merchandising, sale of assets, finance, player sales and prize money.

Mykhaylo Mudryk's moved to Chelsea for £88million (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Any club making more than a very minor loss overall can be punished by a range of measures such as transfer embargoes or bans from European competitions. UEFA also introduced a new FFP measure at the start of the year called “squad cost control”.

Starting this year, clubs can only spend 90 per cent of their revenue in a calendar year on wages, transfers and agents’ fees. This will drop to 80 per cent in 2024 and remain at the final value of 70 per cent from 2025 onwards.

Maximum transfer budget for £48.8m FFP amount under new rules: £213.5m

Matt Dunn