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Chelsea become self-sustaining

It is easy to be sceptical when a football club announces its intention to become self-sustaining, but that is what Chelsea has achieved. From being one of the world' biggest spending clubs in the early days of Roman Abramovich's ownership, when they racked up hundreds of millions of pounds in losses, they are achieving steady profits and are in the black on player trading.

Wages fell last season, despite the club having to pay title-winning bonuses, and a record profit was made from player trading. Since 2010, they have made an overall profit of £285m in buying and selling players.

Chelsea's wage bill for 2016-17 was £219.7m, compared with £224.4 million the previous season. Manchester United are the biggest payers in the Premier League with total wages of £263.5m last season, while Manchester City's bill came to £244m.

Last year Chelsea made a record profit of £69.2m on player trading, thanks in large part to the sale of Oscar to Shanghai SIPG for £60m. City, meanwhile, record a record loss of £87.1m on player trading last year.

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