Despite spending heavily in recent transfer windows, Chelsea have been shown exactly how they can avoid any Financial Fair Play charges.
It's fair to say that Chelsea have dominated the last few transfer windows since Todd Boehly and the Clearlake Capital group completed their takeover of the club in 2022.
The 2023 summer transfer window took Chelsea's spending under Boehly to over £1 billion, including £115m spent on Moises Caicedo, £106.7m on Enzo Fernandez and £88m on Mykhailo Mudryk.
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While heavy spending hasn't translated to improved performances on the pitch, it has led to speculation that Chelsea could struggle to meet the Premier League's Financial Fair Play (FFP) requirements.
In July last year, the London club were fined £8.6 million by UEFA for 'submitting incomplete financial information' during Roman Abramovich's tenure as owner.
A few months later, The Guardian reported that Chelsea could face a Premier League investigation over allegations that Abramovich broke FFP rules by using a series of secret payments.
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Despite raising funds through the recent sales of Kai Havertz to Arsenal for £65m, Mason Mount to Manchester United for £55m and Mateo Kovacic to Man City for £25m, there are doubts that Chelsea's lavish spending will allow them to meet FFP requirements.
That said, the Stamford Bridge club have been shown how they can avoid FFP charges.
A recent report produced by the CIES Football Observatory found that Chelsea have the fifth most profitable academy in the world.
The report revealed that over the last 10 years, Chelsea have raised €347 million (£298.7 million) through the sale of academy graduates who spent at least three seasons at the club between the ages of 15 and 21.
Rumours have gathered pace in recent months that Chelsea could sell Conor Gallagher this month, as the huge profit they would generate on the academy graduate would help them meet FFP rules.
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Last summer Football finance expert Kieran Maguire commented on Chelsea's approach, saying: "Chelsea have the advantage of having sold a very successful stream of academy players in Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Fikayo Tomori. They have brought in huge sums of money at effectively a zero accounting cost."
When asked whether the threat of FFP would reduce his transfer budget this month, Pochettino said: "It is not necessary to sell if we want to buy some players. We are looking [in the transfer market] like other teams for options or opportunities."
Chelsea have spent heavily in recent years, but the brutal truth is that you wouldn't know it judging by their Premier League struggles.
Featured Image Credit: GettyTopics: Chelsea, Chelsea Transfer News & Rumours, Todd Boehly, Mauricio Pochettino, Premier League