Football clubs like to plan their budgets three, four or even five years in advance. At the moment, Chelsea do not have that luxury. There are simply too many moving parts.
Chelsea’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) position is just the tip of the iceberg as far as financial variables are concerned, with the club having lost over £350m in the last three years alone.
While results on the pitch this season have been encouraging, there has been no resolution to the power struggle between Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali. Not publicly, at least.
Chelsea’s plans to redevelop Stamford Bridge (Eghbali’s preference) or up sticks in favour of a new stadium altogether (Boehly’s long-term plan) are also still in limbo.
Either way, while the consensus among experts is that Chelsea do need to take action at their home in West London, it will saddle the club with enormous debt.
There are other more immediate issues too, such as Chelsea’s failure to secure a front-of-shirt sponsor.
Todd Kline, the new commercial supremo at Stamford Bridge, could still salvage some revenue this season from that situation. However, it will likely be at least £35m less than the £60m they were targeting.
Perhaps the biggest issue of all, however, is barely being discussed, neither among the fanbase or most of the media. But more on that later.
For now, Chelsea’s finance department need to at least know the baseline revenue numbers they are working with.
And yet even that continues to elude them, with the latest developments from Real Madrid of all places highlighting what is becoming a growing frustration for the club.
Real Madrid’s Club World Cup announcement makes grim reading for Chelsea
Next summer, Chelsea will take part in the inaugural edition of a revamped Club World Cup.
When Chelsea won the Club World Cup under Thomas Tuchel in 2021, it was a relatively stripped back affair. The Blues had to win just two games to lift the trophy.
In 2025, the competition will swell to a become 32-team tournament, following the same format as the international World Cup, with a group stage and knockout round.
Initially, FIFA were promising huge prize money. Gianni Infantino had suggested that top clubs like Chelsea could get as much as £84m from the Club World Cup, according to some reports.
But just eight months out from the Club World Cup in the United States kicking off, FIFA have secured just a handful of sponsors and – most significantly – no TV deal.
As such, the likes of Chelsea have no idea how much they could bank from the competition. Not ideal when the PSR margins are razor thin as it is.
To compound this state of affairs, Real Madrid’s recently published accounts contain a line that they have received no information from FIFA about how much they will earn from the controversial project.
That has eliminated even the vague hope that world football’s governing body has more information about the prize money distribution than it is letting on in public.
Didier Drogba and John Terry among ex-Chelsea stars backing Club World Cup
Despite concerns from organisations such as FIFPro about the Club World Cup, a number of former Blues have thrown their weight behind the event.
John Terry says he is “super excited” about the Club World Cup, for example.
Didier Drogba is a fan too. Speaking to FIFA, the Chelsea great said: “I think it’s a great opportunity for clubs and for players to be able to compete at the highest level of football.
“There’s already the World Cup, but the World Cup is only every four years and not everybody has the chance to participate.
“The tournament makes things a bit more recurrent, which means there is more competition, more games and more opportunities for players to be world champions.
“Imagine the feeling for someone who plays in Côte d’Ivoire, or in any other African country, to become a world champion in front of all the big clubs like Chelsea, Barcelona or Real Madrid.
“This competition will be very important for the African teams because it will be an opportunity for them to show what they are capable of.”
Chelsea’s biggest financial issue barely anyone is talking about
In the short term, there is no doubt that PSR remains a source of anxiety for Chelsea, no matter how bullish the club are about their compliance.
But it is the club’s historic PSR position – well before the Boehly and Eghbali-backed consortium bought Chelsea – that could potentially prove an even bigger problem.
When the new regime acquired Chelsea, they reported what have been characterised as off-the-books payments made by the Roman Abramovich regime to the Premier League and FA.
An investigation into the alleged issues is ongoing, with UEFA having already fined Chelsea around £8.6m for the admission.
In August, Premier League CEO Richard Masters said that the investigation was ‘reaching a conclusion’.
The case could theoretically lead to a fine, points deduction or transfer embargo.
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