Chelsea will be 'absolutely delighted' after securing '£100m discount' thanks to Roman Abramovich

Yesterday at 03:30 PM

In terms of Chelsea’s financial extravagance, Roman Abramovich walked so Todd Boehly and Clearlake could run. Nearly three years on from his exit, the Russian oligarch’s influence is still being felt in SW6.

Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and the rest of the men who paid towards the £2.5bn takeover of Chelsea in May 2022 have since burned another £1bn on new signings alone.

Despite some bright signs under Enzo Maresca, it’s hard to argue that 12th, 6th and, based on their current position, 4th-place Premier League finishes in successive seasons is a good return on that outlay.

Conversely, success under Roman Abramovich was almost instantaneous. After buying Chelsea for £60m in 2003, he immediately spent nearly twice that sum on big-name signings.

They came 2nd in year one and, in 2004-05, won their first Premier League title with a then-record points tally. Adjusted for inflation, the signings they made around that time are some of the biggest in history.

Top-10 most expensive Chelsea signings under Roman Abramovich

The current era, which Abramovich’s takeover helped usher in, is very different. As well as Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) complications, the Premier League an increasingly fragmented market.

On top of the established heavyweights, there are upstarts with extraordinarily wealthy owners like Newcastle United and Aston Villa to contend with.

Plus, uber-smart overachievers like Nottingham Forest and Brighton are sand in the gears of the so-called Big Six, proving that the key is not just spending but spending well.

That said, the growing spending gap between Chelsea, the two Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal is approaching critical mas and, more often than not, insulates them against failure.

In their apparent attempts to short-circuit football’s transfer ecosystem by spending unprecedented sums, Chelsea have had the Premier League’s PSR enforcers breathing down their necks.

The current rules allow clubs to lose no more than £105m over a rolling three-year period, with allowable deductions for spending on things like infrastructure.

Based on projections from the biggest brains in football finance for their yet-to-be-released 2023-24 accounts, Chelsea’s operating losses over the last three seasons total £475.8m.

However, via a combination of contract jiggery-pokery, accounting sleights of hand, and mass player sales, Chelsea have somehow manage to dodge a PSR breach.

Now, they are on course to secure another PSR lawfare win – and this one could be the biggest of the lot.

• READ MORE: Chelsea warned the two clubs who could sign Cole Palmer off them in the next year as suggestion he could leave floated

Boehly and Clearlake negotiating financial settlement and could be ‘quids in’

Following the BlueCo consortium’s takeover in 2022, Chelsea self-reported a number of financial irregularities dating back to the Abramovich era to the Premier League.

The issues, which were discovered by Boehly and Clearlake’s lawyers during due diligence for the £2.5bn deal, related to a number of alleged secret off-the-books payments to Chelsea transfer targets.

The payments – which are alleged to have been received by the Willian, Samuel Eto’o and Eden Hazard – helped Chelsea circumvent FFP or, as it is now known, PSR.

The Premier League have since been investigating and the consensus among experts was that this would likely lead to a sporting sanction – a points deduction or transfer embargo, for example.

However, The Times have reported this week that Chelsea are in talks with the league over a financial settlement.

“Chelsea will be absolutely delighted if this is a financial settlement,” said Maguire, speaking exclusively to TBR Football.

“Part of the reason is that they received a £100m discount on the price that they paid for Chelsea because this liability was discovered during their due diligence.

“It’s a bit like if you want to buy a house but you discover it has some rising damp, you take on the risk but at a lower price.

“If the financial settlement is less than £100m, they could end up – on a net basis – quids-in.

“I think Chelsea would be happy because they are seeking a Champions League place next season – and they have a good chance.

“A points deduction would clearly impact that, plus the lack of Champions League football would make it more difficult to recruit players, though it hasn’t stopped them to date.

• READ MORE: Todd Boehly could spark yet another PSR battle as Chelsea set for £502m budget

Rivals will be furious with Chelsea over PSR issue as Man City compensation claims rumble on

So far, Everton and Nottingham Forest are the only clubs to have been issued with points deductions for breaching PSR, although Leicester City escaped on the basis of a technicality.

Interestingly, Chelsea’s self-reported irregularities are similar to some of the alleged offences in Manchester City’s ‘115 charges’ case, where Yaya Toure and Roberto Mancini are said to have been paid off the books.

In that instance, several clubs have reserved the right to seek compensation if City are found guilty.

If certain clubs are denied the same opportunity in the even that Chelsea are deemed to have broken the rules, the likes of Everton and Forest will be indignant, says Maguire.

“The reaction of Nottingham Forest sand Everton won’t be positive, I suspect,” said the Price of Football author.

“Ultimately, if these allegations are correct, then it will have resulted in on-field gain.

“That allows Chelsea to comply with PSR when they wouldn’t have otherwise. If it had been discovered at the time, they would have had a points deduction.

“Blaming it on old management is from the playbook of every M&A deal I’ve ever seen. The first thing new management do is to find reasons to delegate blame to the old regime.”