Chelsea 'could face being docked more points than Premier League rivals' next season

A football financial expert thinks Chelsea are headed for a points deduction that will dwarf the punishments handed to Everton and Nottingham Forest earlier this season

Posted Thursday, March 21, 2024 by Dailystar.co.uk

Chelsea are staring down the barrel of a bigger points deduction than the ones handed to Everton and Nottingham Forest, according to a football finance expert.

The Blues are yet to be charged with breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules (PSR) but are facing an uphill battle to abide by them after spending nearly £1billion on players under Todd Boehly and failing overwhelmingly to meet on-field targets.

Stefan Borson, who is a former financial advisor to Manchester City, thinks the fact that Chelsea are facing a second-successive season without European football puts them in a potentially perilous position. In order to comply with PSR, Premier League clubs cannot lose more than £105m over a three-year period, and without the financial windfall of playing in Europe, the London club may struggle to meet the requirements.

"This year, from an operating perspective, is going to be even worse than last year because they've got no Champions League and no Europe at all," Borson told Simon Jordan and Jim White during a recent appearance on talkSPORT.

"Really, they have to find buyers for Trevoh Chalobah for £20m, Armando Broja for £40m, and Conor Gallagher for £50m. It's those sort of deals that need to be done. And by the way, they all need to be done by June 30."

Both Everton and Nottingham Forest have been deducted points this season after falling foul of PSR. The Toffees were hit with a 10-point penalty in November (later reduced to six) and are awaiting the results of a second investigation into a second charge, while Forest were slapped with a four-points deduction last week.

Borson said Chelsea could face an even stiffer punishment because "the scale of the losses they're currently forecasting, to me, appear to be vastly in excess of both Everton and Nottingham Forest."

Jordan responded: "What Stefan is basically saying in the shortest of terms is that is absolutely inconceivable that by December of next year that Chelsea won't be facing a charge from the Premier League for breaching Financial Fair Play, unless there's a complete sea change in the rules or a complete re-rowing back from that perspective.

"If you're looking at Chelsea's numbers, unless they're going to sell somewhere in the region of £200m worth of players, so the players you think they're least likely to sell, then Chelsea are going to be in the situation Nottingham Forest and Everton have been in this time next year."

Chelsea will of course have the opportunity to balance their books and given their impressive sales record over the last decade, generating enough funds won't be an impossible task. They're also set to acquire fresh revenue streams through new shirt sponsorships for next season, with their deal with Infinite Athlete set to expire at the end of the current campaign.