Chelsea promise made as Todd Boehly breaks silence on FFP and points deduction concerns
Todd Boehly has insisted that Chelsea will continue to comply with UEFA and Premier League financial regulations. The Blues’ 2022/23 accounts revealed the club secured £512million in revenue, which is six per cent more than last season.
However, Chelsea’s wage bill soared almost 20 per cent to £404m – the second largest in the English top flight behind only Manchester City (£423m). The west London outfit also recorded £249m in day-to-day operating losses, which is almost £100m more than Leicester City (£152m) in second and Aston Villa (£139m) in third.
As for incomings, Chelsea raked £203m in player sales with a net trading profit of £62.9m. Additionally, the transfer fee paid by Manchester United for Mason Mount will be on the books for next season, and all signings made from January 2023 agreed to take a salary cut if Champions League qualification wasn’t achieved.
While the Blues’ finances have been heavily scrutinised since the takeover in May 2022, the club have complied with UEFA and Premier League financial regulations. And, according to Boehly, Chelsea will continue to abide by the spending rules.
“The club continues to balance success on the field together with the financial imperatives of complying with UEFA and Premier League financial regulations,” said Boehly in the accounts. “The club has complied with these since their inception in 2012 and expects to do so in the foreseeable future.”
Earlier this month, Boehly urged supporters to trust the process despite growing concerns at Stamford Bridge. In an interview with Forbes, the Chelsea co-owner said: “We just need to let the process develop and give them the time to go from being unbelievable individual players with great skills to fold into a team.
“The good news is people care so much. And the bad news is people care so much. That leads to times when they’re frustrated with the team and the owners. I get that, but we just have to continue to stay the course.”
Despite attempts to weather the storm in west London, a disgruntled club’s Supporters’ Trust issued a statement. It read: “The current mood amongst supporters is critically low and cannot be ignored.
“The feeling that the club has become a ‘laughing stock’, both on and off the pitch, is growing. The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust regretfully believes that we are close to, if not already experiencing, a significant shift in supporter opinion that could result in irreversible toxicity, almost irrespective of results on the pitch.
“Unless the situation improves, this seems likely to manifest itself in more targeted chanting, especially at televised games, and quite possibly more organised, overt and impactful forms of protest by some sections of the fanbase.”
