Chelsea have become the first Premier League club to accumulate losses exceeding £1billion.
Their latest accounts show Chelsea made a Premier League record operating loss of £235million for the financial year ending May 2022.
Chelsea spent £368.7m in the transfer market last summer following the takeover of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. January signings were not included in their accounts for the period of 2021-22, which were published on Companies House on Saturday.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire said: “Chelsea became first club to accumulate losses exceeding £1billion.”
Despite the eye-watering figures, Chelsea maintain they continue to comply with Premier League and UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations.
Chelsea became first club to accumulate losses exceeding £1 billion pic.twitter.com/MXxCOJPJ8t
— Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) April 9, 2023
The new accounts also show Chelsea paid £49.75m to former directors, including Bruce Buck and Marina Granovskaia, for helping sell the club after Roman Abramovich was sanctioned.
Chelsea said last month that their “extraordinary expenses and loss of revenue” due to UK government sanctions on Abramovich contributed to their losses for last season.
In a statement in the accounts, Chelsea co-owner Boehly said: “The club’s primary strategy is to deliver on-field success.”
Finance expert Maguire said: “Under Roman Abramovich, Chelsea lost £900,000 a week for 19 years.
“These accounts for 2021-22 are distorted by some unusual features, such as the high pay-offs to former directors and substantial write-downs of players of £77m. I suspect a considerable element of this was in respect to Romelu Lukaku.
“If you take those two out, then Chelsea were broadly breaking even, mainly due to player sales bailing out the club.
“These type of losses are not sustainable, unless you have got an owner who is willing to continue to contribute n the form of loans and shares.”
Chelsea are planning a clear-out of players to help fund another round of big spending this summer, with a new goalkeeper and striker high on the agenda.
They could also target a midfielder and another central defender.
Chelsea have already agreed a deal worth around £50m to sign RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku but are weighing up whether to target another front man.
They are in danger of missing out on the Champions League, which would see them miss out on £90m-plus of TV money, and will need player sales to boost income.
