Chelsea will face “a points deduction” unless they move a significant amount of players on this summer, according to a former Premier League CEO.
The Blues have spent around £1billion since a Todd Boehly-led consortium took over the Premier League club in May 2022 with Chelsea buying some of the best young talents in world football.
However, so far it has not worked out with Chelsea finishing last season in 12th place while Mauricio Pochettino’s side are currently 11th this campaign.
And there are reports that the current squad may have to be broken up with Chelsea needing to raise £100m over the summer to avoid breaking Financial Fair Play rules.
Conor Gallagher, who has attracted interest from rivals Tottenham in recent transfer windows, is seen as one of their most saleable assets as the Blues would make pure profit from any transfer as he’s one of their academy graduates.
But former CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs insists that there are other options to raise the required funds to avoid any FFP sanctions this summer.
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Jacobs recently told GiveMeSport: “We mustn’t forget that Chelsea feel they can get £30m/£35m for Ian Maatsen. The obligation to buy for Lewis Hall is expected to kick in, and that’s £30m plus. You’ve got Romelu Lukaku, who Chelsea feel they can still get £35m for. Trevoh Chalobah is surplus to requirements.
“Marc Cucurella, it’s not unthinkable that he would be sold for the right price. Armando Broja is for sale and on loan at Fulham. If that works out, perhaps Fulham would be prepared to drop £35m or something in that ballpark.
“So if you discount Conor Gallagher and add up all of those other names and fees, even if just two or three of the four or five of those names were sold, that’s still going to be £70m to £100m.”
But former Everton chief Keith Wyness reckons selling some of their players will be tricky because of the long contracts they are on and he’s expecting Chelsea to get a large points deduction.
“It’s fascinating because they’ve got all these players on long contracts. We’re talking about them being forced into a fire sale, but these players have got bargaining power and leverage due to their contracts.
“It’s going to be a very tricky negotiation to handle. There’s going to be a lot of money being paid out to settle these contracts before the players even think about moving on.
“It’s a bit of a mess, to be honest. If they don’t get this done, then it’s looking clear that a points deduction will be put in place – and it could be a big one. It’s a major breach, as it stands.”
