The Premier League are said to be 'entirely satisfied' there is no conflict of interest amid rumours of Saudi involvement at Chelsea.
It has been claimed that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) had an investment in Clearlake Capital, the private equity firm that co-owns Chelsea. PIF already own an 80 percent in Chelsea's Premier League rivals Newcastle, sparking rumours of a conflict of interest.
Speculation has only grown following N'Golo Kante's move from Chelsea to Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad. Fellow Blues stars Hakim Ziyech, Kalidou Koulibaly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Edouard Mendy are also in talks over a transfer to Saudi Arabia.
A consortium led by Todd Boehly and containing Clearlake Capital completed a takeover of Chelsea from Roman Abramovich a year ago. It's believed the Premier League received written assurances that PIF played no role in the takeover at the time.
As reported by The Telegraph, a look into PIF's involvement in Clearlake Capital was explored when Boehly's consortium faced the Premier League's owners' and directors' test in May 2022. Detailed information was provided to the Premier League.
Boehly is said to have promised the Premier League that PIF played "no part" in Chelsea's ownership structure and "would not and could not" become an investor in the future. PIF became Newcastle's controlling shareholder in October 2021.
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The Telegraph claim several top European clubs privately want an investigation into Saudi Arabia's interest in Premier League players. There are concerns clubs such as Chelsea are selling players to the Saudis to avoid Financial Fair Play (FFP) punishments.
The Blues have been the biggest spenders in Europe since Boehly's consortium completed a takeover, adding more than £600million worth of talent to the squad. Chelsea announced the £52m signing of Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig on Tuesday.
Wolves are also facing scrutiny due to Ruben Neves' sensational £47m move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal. The West Midlands club are also under pressure to ease some of their FFP woes after signing a number of players in the January transfer window.
Gary Neville has called for the Premier League to temporarily halt all transfers to Saudi Arabia. "The Premier League should put an instant embargo on transfers to Saudi Arabia to ensure the integrity of the game isn't being damaged," Neville told BBC Sport.
"Checks should be made on the appropriateness of the transactions. If it comes through that process, obviously transfers could open up again. But I do believe, at this moment in time, transfers should be halted until you look into the ownership structure at Chelsea and whether there are beneficial transfer dealings that are improper."
The Saudi Pro League, which runs alongside the European football season, wants to become one of the world's leading divisions. Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in January, while Karim Benzema recently completed a move to Al-Ittihad.
