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Chelsea’s recent transfer policy of signing players on extended contracts has led to UEFA changing its Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
As per BBC Sport, signing players on lengthy deals allows the Blues to spread the player’s transfer fee over the life of the deal when the club submits their annual accounts.
UEFA is now set to impose a five-year limit over which a transfer fee can be spread. Clubs can still offer such deals, but will not be able to stretch transfer fees beyond five years.
Chelsea transfer policy leads to rule change
Contents
Chelsea have spent close to an incredible £450m since Todd Boehly and his consortium completed their takeover of the club in May 2022.
The likes of Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella made the switch to Stamford Bridge in Boehly’s first transfer window last summer.
And they have been followed in the current transfer window by players such as Mykhaylo Mudryk, Noni Madueke and Benoit Badiashile. Joao Felix meanwhile has arrived on an expensive loan from Atletico Madrid.
But it is the length of the contracts rather than the fee paid that has forced UEFA into the rule change. Mudryk has been signed on an eight-and-a-half-year contract, with his £89m fee to be valued at £11m per year.
Badiashile and striker David Datro Fofana have both joined the Blues on six-and-a-half-year deals, with Madueke joining on a seven-and-a-half-year deal.
Other recent moves include Wesley Fofana signing a seven-year contract and Cucurella signing a six-year contract. Fortunately for Chelsea, the rules will come into effect this summer and will not apply retrospectively.
The all-important figures
Competing in the Premier League and in a UEFA competition this season, Chelsea must adhere to the former’s profit and sustainability rules and the latter’s FFP regulations.
UEFA’s rules state that clubs can spend up to €5m (£4.4m) more than they earn over a three-year period, but can exceed that level to a limit of €30m if it is covered by the club’s owner, which in this case is Boehly. There are also rules on wages, with punishments for breaking the rules including warnings, fines and the loss of European titles.
Premier League rules meanwhile allow for total losses of £105m over a three-year period, with fines or points deductions among the punishments for losses in excess of that figure.
Chelsea desperate for quick turnaround
Such huge spending last summer certainly didn’t work well for Thomas Tuchel, with the manager relieved of his duties in September.
Graham Potter has since come into the dugout, but things on the pitch have remained miserable, with the Blues currently 10th in the Premier League table.
They’ve won just eight of their 20 league games, drawing five and losing seven. February represents a key month for the club as they look to compete both domestically and in Europe.
The Blues have London derbies with Fulham, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur next month, as well as a Champions League round of 16 first-leg meeting with Borussia Dortmund. Chelsea also host struggling Southampton in what is a busy period for Potter and his players.
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