January 25 – A loophole in financial fair play rules that has been used by big-spending Premier League Chelsea to sign players on longer than usual deals is to be slammed shut by UEFA.
Plans are under way to set a five-year maximum for the length of time over which a player’s transfer fee can be spread.
The new policy will be brought in before the summer transfer window after a number of clubs complained about Chelsea’s policy, according to the The Times newspaper.
The club have spent an eye-watering £460 million on new players since the takeover by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, including a record-breaking outlay in the summer and, recently, a staggering £88.5 million on Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Mudryk has signed an unprecedented eight-and-a-half-year deal – the longest in Premier League history – allowing Chelsea to amortise the fee over the length of his contract.
Fellow January arrivals Benoit Badiashile and David Datro Fofana both signed six-and-a-half-year deals earlier this month and Noni Madueke joined on a seven-and-a-half-year contract. In the summer, Wesley Fofana signed a seven-year deal and Marc Cucurella joined on a six-year contract
Even taking account of exploiting the loophole with their spend-spend-spend policy that has outstripped every other club in Europe, Chelsea could still fall foul of UEFA’s current FFP rules before they are changed. The club are allegedly on a UEFA watchlist as they splash the cash in desperation to qualify for the Champions League.
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