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Concerns over Chelsea's accounts

Chelsea face a battle to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) and could be forced to sell players before June 30 after their financial state was laid bare in a sobering set of accounts.

The club’s accounts for the year ending June 30, 2023 saw them post a pre-tax loss of £90.1million ($112m), while wages climbed from £340.2m (2022) to £404m in 2023.

Chelsea’s accounts also show that between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, they spent a total of £745.2m on new players. Their accounts note that a further £454.1m has been spent on players since June 30, 2023. They raised £203m from player sales and made a net profit of £62.9m on player trading overall.

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire commented: “My concern is more for the three-year reporting period ending in this season because they have not had the benefits of European football. We had all been told that the wage bill will go down under Clearlake Capital, but the fact it shot up has taken me back.”

“Chelsea need to start selling again, but if you have got a £400m wage bill, then that means you have players on very big wages and there are a limited number of clubs willing to take those players off your hands, or a limited number of clubs a player would be willing to transfer to.

The main issue is that these accounts are worse than everyone expected. I can’t see any positives. They can’t grow matchday revenue this season because Stamford Bridge is full. TV income will be down around £70million because of not playing in Europe and unless they win every match until the end of the season, then finishing eighth or ninth is £3million per place, so they may get a little bit more.

Qualifying for the Europa League and Conference League does not make money, it is only the Champions League that puts plusses on the bottom line. If you get to the final of the Europa League or the semi-final, then that is about OK, but you aren’t making much money before that.”

Chelsea’s overall revenue increased from £481.3m in 2022 to £512.5m in 2023, with the majority of this rise coming from their commercial department.  Their commercial income grew to £210.1m for the year ended June 30, 2023, having totalled £177.1m in the previous year.

 

 

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