Chelsea have recently been fined by UEFA for breaking spending rules upon their return to the Champions League next season.
The Blues have been toeing the line when it comes to the financial rules in the Premier League since Todd Boehly and co took over at Stamford Bridge.
However, Chelsea sold their women’s team to themselves in order to appease a potential problem with the Premier League, and now a number of sides are looking to follow suit.
Aston Villa have just sold their own women’s team after top-flight English clubs voted against outlawing the loophole, however these profits are not recognised by UEFA.
Todd Boehly to change how he runs Chelsea after UEFA sanctions
Chelsea were fined by UEFA, but according to The Times now need to raise £60m in player sales in order to stay in their good books.
Finance expert Adam Williams doesn’t believe this is a big concern for the Blues, however believes Boehly is going to have to change the way he operates for them to meet the targets set to them by UEFA for the next few seasons.
He said: “The £60m of sales needed isn’t necessarily the big story here, in my opinion. They have to meet the positive transfer balance targets in at least 2025-26 and 2026-27, and potentially in the following two seasons too if they don’t meet the other targets outlined in the plan.
“Yes, they have some work to get that positive transfer balance this summer given the signings they have already made, but they were always going to offset those arrivals with sales anyway. That was always going to be the Chelsea model after a few years when they had created this huge squad.
“Todd Boehly describes it as a ‘portfolio’ of players, which I think tells you the attitude of the ownership. They see a squad as a tradeable asset base, so I don’t think this £60m-ish target is going to change their plans at all in that respect.
“I think the bigger story is the intermediary targets they have to hit in terms of their profit-and-loss account. And they can’t use the same accounting sleights of hand that they have done to circumvent the Premier League rules because UEFA doesn’t recognise the sales of the women’s team, the hotels, or even the bottom line-inflating player swap deals.“
Chelsea must raise their revenue to meet UEFA targets
Williams went on to say that given the costs Chelsea currently endure per year, they will need to significantly increase their revenue as well as slash the costs.
He said: “In 2025-26, as far as I can tell, we don’t know the target they have to meet. In the settlement plan, it’s just described as the deficit that the club is projecting. In 2026-27, they can lose up to around £55m. In 2027-28, it’s about £50m. In 2028-29, they need to be fully compliant with the Football Earnings rule, which means they can’t have lost more than about £75m in the preceding three financial years.
“At the operating level, Chelsea are losing £200m-plus per season. To meet these UEFA targets, they’re going to have to massively increase revenue and probably slash costs too. That is going to fundamentally change how the club is run.“
The Blues have a number of ways they can bring in more money, however this is not going to include the building of a new, bigger stadium, given the timeframe that would take.
The Club World Cup has already provided Chelsea fantastic revenue, however they are likely going to need to add to that with a front of shirt sponsorship, after DAMAC’s short-term tenure came to an end.
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