UEFA to close loophole in wake of Chelsea record spending after complaints from rival clubs
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 after receiving complaints from other Premier League clubs.
Sportsmail revealed last Saturday that a number of Chelsea’s top-flight rivals had accused the club of attempting to cheat FFP regulations by using amortisation to spread the cost of Mykhailo Mudryk’s £88million fee over eight years for accounting purposes.
FIFA statutes already set five years as the maximum contract length, but exceptions are permitted, which Chelsea have utilised to defer much of the cost of the record £460million transfer spending since Todd Boehly bought the club last July.
In addition to Mudryk, who signed the longest contract in the history of the Premier League, French defender Benoit Badiashile and Ivory Coast striker David Datro Fofana both signed six-and-a-half year deals this month after the arrivals of Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella on seven and six-year contracts respectively last summer.
Having been alerted to what appears to be a clear trend by other clubs UEFA have reacted, and are planning to set a five-year limit for the time over which a player’s transfer fee can be spread from next summer.
The rule change will not affect Chelsea’s recent signings, but is likely to limit their room for manouvre in subsequent transfer windows.
Chelsea’s lavish spending over the summer and January transfer windows has shattered records, with the figure of £460m already the highest in the world and the highest in Premier League history, and expected to rise further.
The previous record was set by Manchester City, who spent £328.1 million in 2017-18.
