The London club remains unconcerned about financial fair play, relying on a clever accounting model, huge revenues from player sales, and long-term contracts. Meanwhile, Joško Gvardiol has signed a new contract with Manchester City until 2031.
Despite spending over £210 million in the current summer transfer window, Chelsea does not seem concerned about breaching the financial fair play rules of the Premier League and UEFA. The secret lies in a carefully crafted financial model based on huge profits from player sales, long-term contracts that reduce the annual cost of transfers, and salary restructuring, writes the British The Times, as reported by Goal.com.
This summer, Chelsea has already brought in French defender Maxence Lacroix for £52 million, making him the first player over 26 to arrive since the BlueCo consortium took over the club in 2022. This was followed by the huge acquisition of Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa for £117 million, despite strong competition from Arsenal, and Marco Palestra from Atalanta for £47 million.
By activating previously agreed deals, Geovany Quenda, Emmanuel Emega, and Dastan Satpayev have also arrived. Bournemouth rejected a £64 million offer for Alex Scott, and Chelsea continues its pursuit of Rayo Vallecano left-back Pep Chavarria. Manager Xabi Alonso confirmed that the board is ready to conclude new deals if the opportunity arises. "We have to be flexible and quick in decision-making, but the most important thing is that we know what we want," Alonso told Goal.com.
In the 2024/2025 season, Chelsea recorded the largest pre-tax loss in English football history, over £200 million, and that for the fourth consecutive year. However, the financial picture was improved by extraordinary revenues: the sale of the women's team to the ownership company for £200 million and the sale of two hotels for £70.5 million helped meet Premier League rules. UEFA, however, does not recognize those revenues, which is why it reached a settlement with the club; Chelsea must meet certain financial targets in the coming years to avoid fines or even a ban from European competitions.
The real answer to how Chelsea can spend so aggressively lies in its incredible success in selling its own players. Since BlueCo took over the club, more than £1.8 billion has been spent on transfers, but over £900 million has been raised from sales. Last season, Chelsea became the first Premier League club with more than £300 million in transfer revenue in a single campaign.
During the current transfer window, the club has already earned around £170 million from the sales of Marc Cucurella, Tyrique George, and Andrey Santos. Santos was bought for £10.2 million and sold to Manchester United for £50 million; George, an academy product, went to Everton for £24 million, pure profit on the books. Also planned are sales of players such as Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Filip Jorgensen, Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap, Malo Gusto, and Pedro Neto, which could push total revenue from sales since BlueCo's arrival above £1 billion.
Additional flexibility comes from accounting amortization of costs. According to UEFA rules, the transfer fee is not recorded all at once but is spread over a maximum of five years of the contract duration. Thus, this year's £210 million appears in the annual books as a cost of only around £42 million, easing the pressure on the budget.
While Chelsea plays its financial game, Croatian international Joško Gvardiol today officially extended his contract with Manchester City until the summer of 2031, with an option for an additional 12 months. With improved financial terms, the 24-year-old, who arrived from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023 for €90 million (£77 million), has been rewarded for his status as one of the best defenders in the world. In 122 appearances for City, he has scored 13 goals and won six major trophies, including the Premier League in 2024.
"As soon as I found out that City wanted to extend my contract, I immediately felt that it was exactly what I wanted. City fans have been incredible to me from day one, and the club provides everything for the players. It is the best club in the world," Gvardiol told Prigorski.hr. Sporting director Hugo Viana added: "Joško is a player that this club truly believes in. He is young, an exceptional professional, and already one of the best defenders in the world."
