Football fans have been wondering how Chelsea have been able to spend as much as they have lately – almost half a billion pounds – and still fall within the guidelines of FFP.
Newcastle fans in particular have been cursing their spending ability as the Magpies have tip-toed so diligently around FFP since the take-over, almost scared to spend money knowing that the slightest infraction will cause ructions in the world of football with the club under the microscope given our new backers.
Todd Boehly, however, has had the opposite approach since taking over Chelsea. Throwing money around left, right and centre.
Well, it seems UEFA aren’t too happy with their exploits and are looking to close down the loophole in the FFP rules that Chelsea have been taking advantage of, according to The Times.
Financial Fair Play is calculated on a three-year rolling calendar, meaning if you spend big 0ne year, you really need to watch it for two years after, or make sure you bring in plenty of revenue to offset it. It also takes into account the duration of a player’s contract – so if you sign a player for £30m on a three-year contract, that’s £10m per year (wages are also similarly calculated).
All this is why Chelsea’s big winter signing, Mykhailo Mudryk has been signed up to an eight-and-a-half-year deal, meaning his £85m fee is spread out over that length, bringing their impact on FFP down significantly.
UEFA are now looking to introduce a cap on contract length to ensure that clubs can no longer exploit that loophole. Under new rules, the maximum term a player can sign for initially will be five years.
So, if Newcastle were wanting to exploit the rules in the same way as Chelsea, they need to get a move on before it’s no longer possible. Although given the club’s speed in the transfer market so far this window, it’s unlikely to affect us … I jest of course, I’m fully confident that things are closer than we’re being made aware of.