European football governing body, UEFA are set to close the loophole which has enabled Chelsea to spread the cost of their record transfer spending over up to eight years, following protests from rival Premier League teams.
Recent reports had that a number of Chelsea’s Premier League rivals had accused the team of trying to circumvent FFP rules by using amortization to extend the cost of Mykhailo Mudryk’s £88 million transfer over eight years for accounting purposes.
FIFA regulations currently limit contracts to five years, but there are exceptions that can be made. Chelsea has taken use of these exclusions to postpone the payment of a large portion of the club’s record £460 million in transfer expenditures since Todd Boehly purchased the club in July.
In addition to Mudryk, who signed the longest contract in Premier League history, French defender Benoit Badiashile and Ivory Coast striker David Datro Fofana also signed six-and-a-half-year contracts this month after Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella joined on seven- and six-year deals, respectively, last summer.
Recent £88m signing Mykhaylo Mudryk signed the Premier League’s longest contract everUEFA has reacted and is proposing to create a five-year limit for the amount of time over which a player’s transfer price can be spread starting next summer after being made aware of what appears to be a clear pattern by other teams.
The regulation modification won’t have an impact on Chelsea’s most recent acquisitions, but it will probably reduce their latitude in future transfer windows.
With a total of £460 million already setting records for the world and the Premier League, Chelsea’s extravagant spending between the summer and January transfer windows is anticipated to break further records.
Manchester City, which spent £328.1 million in 2017–18, set the previous record.
CHELSEA’S SIGNINGS UNDER BOEHLY
Raheem Sterling – £45m plus £10m potential add-ons (five-year contract)
Kalidou Koulibaly – £33.8m (four-year contract)
Marc Cucurella – £55m plus £7m potential add-ons (six-year contract)
Wesley Fofana – £70m plus £10m potential add-ons (seven-year contract)
Carney Chukwuemeka – £20m (six-year contract)
Gabriel Slonina – £12m
Cesare Casadei – £12.6m plus £4.2m potential add-ons (six-year contract)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. – £10.6m (two-year contract)
Denis Zakaria – loan, £2.6m fee plus £30m option to buy
Mykhailo Mudryk – £88m (8.5-year contract)
Benoit Badiashile – £33.7m (7.5-year contract)
Joao Felix – loan, £9m fee
Andrey Santos – £11m
David Datro Fofana – £10m (7.5-year contract)
