Chelsea news: The Blues face financial challenges under Todd Boehly as transfer risks emerge with costly outcome.
Chelsea needing a summer exodus is nothing new, even with the publication of their worrying 2021/22 accounts. The club announced on Monday that it made losses of over £121m across that period, a large number but still less than the 12 months previous under the previous regime.
This is just one avenue to cover though with player sales and matchday income another important aspect of the club's functions. A notable part of the statement came towards though, making a point that fans and even players will be concerned about.
"Despite the loss in the year and the operating challenges due to the sanctions, the Club continues to comply with UEFA and Premier League financial regulations," it reads. A small but important bit to explore here.
"In addition, the Club made a profit on player trading of £123.2 million in the year, including the sales of Tammy Abraham to AS Roma, Marc Guehi to Crystal Palace, Fikayo Tomori to AC Milan, and Kurt Zouma to West Ham."
In this sense it came out with a profit but there is a key difference between how new signings and departures go down in the accounts. Whereas any sum received from a transfer - outside of add ons - goes down as a lump figure in the books. When buying a player that cost is spread across the length of their contract.
Therefore, despite deals worth £62m for Mykhailo Mudryk and £106.8m for Enzo Fernandez - the combined total of those two alone being more than the £118m mentioned - they are massively reduced across the massive eight years deals when accounted for.
However, with a 33-man squad, underperforming and overpaid stars still rife within the group and the commitment to paying for players over such a long period, Chelsea need to keep finding ways to balance the sheets. On top of that, their poor season domestically means that the lucrative broadcast and financial rewards of European football will further reduce their income next season.
Finance expert Kieran Maguire has explained the true effect this could have. "Failing to qualify for the Champions League would put Chelsea in a really challenging position," he told Sussex Live. "The one thing you can say about Chelsea is that they have lots of players they can sell and lots have come through the academy. If you look at Conor Gallagher, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Callum Hudson-Odoi, they could sell them and make a big profit on them."
"They have got far too many players," Maguire adds. "The challenge for them, [Romelu] Lukaku is on a quarter of a million a week, and his contract doesn't expire until 2026. Some of the players that have come in are on big contracts. They are effectively locking themselves into a £100k-£150k a week on these players for many, many years.
"If the player doesn't do well, who is going to take them off Chelsea's hands? That is when the problems really start to crystalise."
It's a big decision for the owner to make and one that he is under serious pressure from FFP implications to get right.
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