Emergency talks held as £1bn hangs in balance for Chelsea

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Chelsea will be watching with interest ahead of what have been described as ’emergency talks’ between some of the most important stakeholders in football.

The club have their own issues to resolve at Stamford Bridge as boardroom fractures still remain despite Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali being picture together at Stamford Bridge on Saturday,

The two powerbrokers were the main drivers behind the group who bought Chelsea for £2.75bn in May 2022 and have overseen two years of turbulence since.

However, it is understood that both men believe that there is still significant upside to their investments and value their respective stakes more than their initial prices.

It remains to be seen if one will buy out the other and if so whether that will be at an improved price, but there is clearly still faith in the project that has drained their wallets to the tune of over £1bn.

And with infrastructure commitments such as the expansion of Stamford Bridge or construction of a new stadium altogether, there must be a goldmine that the regime think they can tap into.

And one potential financial boost provided by FIFA has been in the headlines this week.

• READ MORE: Jeff Stelling thinks £54m player could already regret joining Chelsea this summer

Club World Cup crisis summit

Champions in 2021, Chelsea will feature again in the Club World Cup next year.

However, this year’s edition of the tournament will feature 32 teams instead of the usual eight.

It is part of a revamp of the tournament which FIFA will stage every four years and hope will elevate it to the prestige of the Champions League.

FIFA and Gianni Infantino originally believed that such an event could rake in a TV deal of around £4bn, but that now seems wildly misplaced.

Apple have offered around £1bn for the rights but FIFA have rejected that proposal and, as relayed by SportsPro, will stage emergency talks with broadcasters and stakeholders to find a different solution.

Infantino will apparently throw his individual weight behind the talks, signalling just how urgent world football’s governing body believe the situation is.

How much will Chelsea really earn from the Club World Cup?

FIFA initially told clubs like Chelsea that they could earn as much as £86m for one appearance at the Club World Cup.

Those estimations seem spectacularly optimistic then and even more so now.

However, it is believed that the Club World Cup has the support of all of the so-called Big Six clubs and so Chelsea must believe it will be worth their while financially.

Sponsors have been quoted around £150m to have their brand associated with the tournament, but without a TV deal to bear that out, that also seems unrealistic.

If needs be, it appears FIFA are prepared to bankroll the tournament themselves in order to demonstrate its commercial viability.

Any guess about how much Chelsea might earn in this scenario is speculation, but industry benchmarking suggests that a sum of £20-25m might be possible.