Chelsea could now sign Lionel Messi without FFP concerns

Posted by

It has been revealed in the Daily Express that Chelsea could make signings in the summer without having to worry about Financial Fair Play constraints.

SEE MORE
Chelsea transfer news
Ranking our 8 favourite leaked kits for 2015/16 season, with Chelsea & Liverpool strips!
Chelsea STILL fuming over lack of spot-kicks as official website published ‘Penalty Puzzle’ article

The Blues have had to sell to buy in the last few transfer windows, with Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne leaving before this season to allow Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa to join the club. However, new a new sponsorship deal, the sale of Fernando Torres, and surprisingly Eden Hazard’s new contract have all helped balance the books at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have agreed a sponsorship deal with Yokohama rubber, and got flop Torres’ wages off the books. Interestingly Hazard’s new contract also means that they will be saving cash.

Jack Cohen from LawInSport said: “It is not widely known outside football accounting that clubs can actually save themselves money in terms of FFP costs by giving their players new contracts, even if they are earning more.

Although Hazard’s wages have increased from approximately £9.62m a year to £10.4m annually, his FFP ‘book’ value has gone down. That’s because his £32m fee was amortised at £6.4m a year over an initial five-year contract.

That deal had two-and-a-half years left to run, so the remaining £16m in ‘book’ value was spread out over the new five-and-a-half-year contract Hazard signed in February, decreasing his annual FFP cost from £6.4m to £2.91m. So even with the increase in wages, Hazard will cost Chelsea £2.71m less a year in FFP money from this summer.”

Cohen continued: “There is no doubt Chelsea have the freedom to spend big money this summer. Unlike the last two years, Jose Mourinho does not have to rely heavily of significant player sales to fund incoming transfers and meet FFP rules.”

Chelsea players such as John Terry, Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard, and Diego Costa have had to play the majority of matches, perhaps leading to their recent drop in form.

If Jose Mourinho has had to play within a restricted squad size due to FFP regulations, this could allow them to bulk it up – and prompt a huge summer of transfers.

More Stories Chelsea FC