Skip to main content

How much did Chelsea really spend?

The authoritative Swiss Ramble uses his analytical skills to answer this question: https://swissramble.substack.com/p/how-much-money-did-chelsea-really

Chelsea ended up spending an incredible £286m in the January transfer window, which takes their total spend for the 2022/23 season to £539m.

In fact, if we include transfer add-ons and the £10m loan fee to secure the services of Joao Felix for six months, the outlay in January was £327m with the expenditure for the full season being £603m. Adding the £63m committed to purchase Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig in the summer would give a spooky £666m.

It seems like ages ago now, but only this summer Chelsea spent another quarter of a billion pounds, including the big money buys of Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly – many of whom now find themselves on the bench.

To place Chelsea’s expenditure into perspective, it was £180m more than the rest of the Big Six combined.  Chelsea on their own spent far more than La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 put together.

Chelsea’s business model over the past few years owes a great deal to the accounting treatment for player trading, as it has essentially been to offset large operating losses with profits from player sales.

In total, the Swiss Ramble estimates that Chelsea’s signings this season have committed the club to around £1.3 bln, due to a combination of the high spend and lengthy contracts. That is an expensive gamble – unless the players deliver on the pitch.

One of the key reasons for Chelsea’s major investment is to improve their chances of qualifying for the Champions League. This will be a big ask this season, as they currently sit in 9th place in the Premier League, a full 10 points behind the top four.   Europe has been an important contributor towards Chelsea’s revenue, especially 2020 when they earned £106m by defeating Manchester City to win the Champions League.

 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...
1 comment
Read more

Spurs to sell minority stake

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale. Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium. The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Millwall punch above their weight

Millwall’s season was overshadowed by the tragic death of owner John Berylson following a car accident. The American had been an exemplary owner, beloved by the fans for his leadership, passion and generosity. Millwall’s finances had been pretty good during his tenure, which we shall explore by looking at the most recent accounts from the 2022/23 season, when the club narrowly missed out on a place in the play-offs after finishing 8th. Millwall’s pre-tax loss slightly reduced from £12.6m to £12.2m, as revenue rose £0.8m (4%) from £18.6m to a club record £19.4m and player sales improved from a £0.1m loss to £2.5m profit. However, other operating income dropped from by £1.1m from £1.3m to £0.2m, while operating expenses increased £1.7m (5%) from £31.6m to £33.3m. The main driver of the revenue increase was broadcasting, which rose £1.1m (12%) from £9.1m to £10.2m, though match day was also up £0.4m (7%) from £5.8m to £6.2m. In contrast, commercial fell £0.7m (19%) from £3.7m to £3....
Post a Comment
Read more