Premier League are set to CLOSE the FFP loophole exploited by Chelsea

The Premier League are set to close the Financial Fair Play contract loophole that is being successfully exploited by Chelsea by bringing their accounting rules in line with UEFA's from next summer.

New British record signing Moises Caicedo will become the 22nd player on Chelsea's books to sign a contract longer than five years at Stamford Bridge after agreeing an eight-year deal to sign from Brighton, a move which could help the club avoid breaching Premier League rules by spreading transfer fees over a longer period.

UEFA responded to Chelsea's innovative approach to player contracts this summer by setting a five-year limit for transfer fees to be paid irrespective of the length of the deal, but in the Premier League there is no such restriction.

The £115million fee Chelsea have agreed with Brighton for Caicedo can therefore be spread over the eight years of the Ecuador midfield player's contract, while the new UEFA ruling will not affect Mauricio Pochettino's side this season as they have not qualified for Europe.

The Caicedo deal will take Chelsea's transfer outlay to more than £800million since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover in May 2022, putting them at risk of breaching both UEFA and Premier League spending limits.

Mail Sport has learned that the anomaly in accounting rules has been raised with the Premier League by several clubs and is set to be discussed at shareholders' meetings this season, with a view to a rule change being introduced next summer.

A Premier League source said: 'This hasn't been discussed formally, but is something we will look at. Alignment with UEFA rules would make sense for all parties. The only club currently handing out eight-year contracts on a regular basis is likely to be involved in UEFA competitions soon, as are any others that follow suit.'

Chelsea's use of longer contracts, which has been inspired by Boehly's experience of the American sports market where such deals are more common, will enable them to avoid FFP breaches in the short-term at least.

The club spent over £600m last season, but with most of the new signings given seven or eight-year contracts the accounting cost was under £100m, whereas they have raised almost £200m this summer in player sales.

UEFA's new five-year limit will not apply to any Chelsea signings until next summer at the earliest, when the Premier League are expected to have brought in similar regulations.

The new rules will not prevent clubs offering contracts longer than five years however, a practice which also helps protect a player's transfer value.

The Premier League declined to comment.