Chelsea staged a rare and costly transfer flurry in the January transfer window, spending more than $350m (Transfermarkt data) to sign eight new players. The strategy, and how it circumvents financial fair play rules, is now generating reactions and questions.

Last May, the British government approved the purchase of the football team by a group led by businessman and investor Todd Bowley for more than $5 billion.

Prior to this, Chelsea had been owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who put the club up for sale in early March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying his decision was “in the best interest of the club.”

Boely has invested in many sports teams across a variety of sports such as the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, and the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.

Since taking over at Chelsea, Boly is estimated to have spent over $600 billion on transfers.

In his first full transfer window in the summer of 2022 as interim sporting director of the club, Boeli spent $302.08 million on new signings at the helm of Chelsea, according to Transfermarkt (Chelsea never discloses exactly how much the club spends, according to Transfermarkt). for transfers).

The January transfer window is considered the worst for buying players. But this did not discourage Chelsea, who, in addition to Mikhail Mandrik, also acquired Benoit Badiasil, Noni Maduek, Malo Gusto, Andrei Santos, David Datro Fofan and Enzo Fernandez. And Portuguese superstar Joao Felix arrived on loan from Atlético Madrid.

In fact, Fernandes signed at the expiration date for $131 million, while Chelsea have already acquired 15 other players since the start of the season, spending more than $600 million, according to the CIES Football Observatory.

Rules are rules

Chelsea are chasing young players – eleven of them signed under the age of 22. However, despite the transfers, Chelsea’s results on the pitch are currently unstable and acquiring so much talent poses, among other things, practical problems.

According to UEFA rules, the club can only include three new players in the Champions League play-off squad, which means that four of Mudrić, Joao Felix, Badiasil, Madueke, Fofana and Fernandes will not compete in Chelsea colors. .

Transfer spending has risen this season, almost back to pre-pandemic levels. And Chelsea is at the top of the list.

According to FIFA’s 2022 Global Transfer Market Report, football clubs spent a total of $6.5 billion in 2022, up 33.5% from the $4.86 billion spent in 2021.

Chelsea are maneuvering “between” the hurdles and financial fair play rules of both the Premier League and UEFA by using a long payout method, offering players longer contracts to spread the transfer costs over several years.

Rules are changing, but “slowly”

UEFA announced in January that it would amend its Financial Fair Play rules by imposing a five-year cap on transfer fees to stop the practice of long payments.

However, the change will come into effect this summer without retroactive effect, meaning it will not affect Chelsea’s contracts.

The team’s youth academy occupies the starting lineup to some extent, and in recent years Billy Gilmour, Fikayo TomoriMark Gwehy and Tammy Abraham have signed high-paying contracts.

However, a large influx of players to Chelsea could affect the prospects for new players from the academy. “There’s no point in an academy system if kids don’t have the opportunity to play at that level,” former Stoke City manager Tony Pulis told Sky Sports.

Source: CNN