Enzo Maresca poised for supersized transfer budget next season as Chelsea tap into £500m fund

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When Clearlake and Todd Boehly appointed Enzo Maresca June, it was clear that refining an enormous squad was top of his to-do list at Chelsea.

With 42 players on the books at one point, the Italian obviously needed to thin out the group for practical reasons. But just as important were the ownership’s financial motivations.

Chelsea have avoided a PSR Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) breach due to some clever accountancy in recent seasons, but they almost tipped the scales in 2023-24.

They needed to trim the fat in the summer or face a possible points deduction. In the end, 11 senior players left Stamford Bridge permanently in the summer, while a further 15 departed on loan.

The headline figures showed Chelsea’s net spend after around £200m in new signings was around negative £34m.

Given that fees paid are amortised over five years for the purposes of PSR whereas fees received are registered upfront, only around £7m of that sum will hit the PSR calculation in 2024-25.

With Maresca boasting a perfect record in the Conference League, where the Blues face FC Heidenheim on Thursday night, and sitting 3rd in the Premier League, the squad revamp appears to have worked.

However, while it looks like Chelsea are on track to satisfy the Premier League’s financial regulations this season, UEFA’s system is more of a concern.

What’s more, from 2025-26, the Premier League are expected to adopt a new PSR system that closely mirrors UEFA’s, meaning Chelsea will once again need to recalibrate their finances.

In short, Todd Boehly and Clearlake cannot afford to rest on their laurels and must maximise every revenue opportunity they can get.

Chelsea’s failure to find a front-of-shirt sponsor will cost tens of millions by the time the season is out, while the ongoing power struggle between Boehly and Eghbali makes future planning difficult at SW6.

The turbulence in which the expanded Club World Cup is currently caught is also far from ideal, with the club’s finance gurus unable to forecast how much prize money they will take home.

But there has been some positive movements in that department in recent weeks and, as a leading finance expert has told TCC, that could have a welcome impact on Chelsea’s budget next season.

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Chelsea learn Club World Cup finances

The 32-team Club World Cup that Chelsea will help launch in the United States next summer has been beset by a number of problems so far.

As well as protestations on legal grounds from the likes of FIFPro, FIFA has so far been unable to secure a TV deal for the controversial tournament, although sponsorship deals are now rolling in.

Various figures have suggested Chelsea’s could earn between £25m an £85m for taking part, which – despite the huge range – would be a massive slice of their annual revenue in either extreme.

This weeks, it has emerged that the central prize money will be around £500m, although the distribution

Will that be enough to retain the interests of European giants like Chelsea, especially when they will likely miss out an lucrative overseas pre-season tour as a result?

Kieran Maguire, football finance lecturer and industry insider, discussed how the £500m figure will have been received in the Chelsea boardroom.

“Interestingly, Real Madrid are budgeting for zero from the Club World Cup,” he told TCC.

“I think there is a degree of suspicion from senior clubs in terms of how much they receive.

“It could be that Real Madrid are being clever with their words and saying they are looking at a net gain of zero.

“I.e., they have had to forego a pre-season tour and they have come to the conclusion that they will get no more money from the Club World Cup than they would from that.

“It is easy to play fast and loose with the words.“

Significantly, Maguire also points out that, as the prize money will be received in the 2025-26 season, it will unlock more leeway in terms of PSR from next summer onwards.

“I don’t think Chelsea will be budgeting on anything from this. And ultimately, this is more of an issue for their 2025-26 budget. So that is where the PSR headroom will come in.

“The tournament has some merit but my concern is that you are going to get some clubs who are the equivalent of FC Noah coming up against the likes of Chelsea and see some very one-sided score lines.”

• READ MORE: Todd Boehly gets £845m boost from the US as Chelsea takeover battle continues

Boehly Vs Eghbali: Will boardroom civil war lead to Chelsea takeover?

The question remains whether Chelsea’s ownership will still look the same when Enzo Maresca leads his side to the Club World Cup in June.

It’s all gone quiet with regards to the reported differences between Boehly and Eghbali in the Chelsea boardroom.

Earlier this year, it was suggested that the pair’s respective visions for Chelsea were now so misaligned that one party buying the other out looked like the most likely outcome.

However, the intricacies of Chelsea’s ownership structure perhaps suggest that this is not imminent.

Boehly holds just 13 per cent of the club’s equity, while Eghbali’s Clearlake own over 60 per cent. From the latter’s point of view, they already have operation control, so is there a reason to buy Boehly out?

If Boehly was to attempt to buy Eghbali out meanwhile, he would need to provide return on Clearlake’s initial investment, and it is hard to argue that the club has appreciated in value since 2022.