Uefa has confirmed a transfer fee can only be spread across a maximum of five years of a player’s initial contract.
The new regulation, which comes into force on 1 July, follows Chelsea’s recent trend of signing players on long-term deals.
A number of players have been signed to such deals with Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk joining on eight-and-a-half year deals in January.
The new rules will not apply retroactively to transfers.
Previously the longer a contract was, the smaller the annual payments would be recorded on the club’s accounts. So the £89m signing of Mudryk will be valued at £11m a year over the course of his contract.
Clubs will still be able to offer longer deals under national association rules, but they will not be able to stretch transfer fees beyond the first five years.
They can spread the cost over a contract extension, but the extension can also not be more than five years.
Uefa said the new rules would ensure “equal treatment of all clubs and improve financial sustainability”.