Chelsea’s financial woes laid bare as accounts show club suffered highest operating loss EVER last season after building most expensive squad… and had to sell hotel to avoid a points penalty.
- Chelsea’s operating loss for 2022/23 stood at £249 million.
- This was more than any other club – as was their team value and depreciation.
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Chelsea’s financial calamity has been laid bare after it was revealed they had recorded the most serious operating loss of any Premier League club in 2022/23.
Their operating loss was £249 million, almost £100 million more than their nearest rival Leicester, who recorded a deficit of £152 million.
They also had the most expensive squad, valued at £1.117 billion, and the second highest wage bill in the top flight, at £404 million.
Chelsea spent the most on amortization – transfer fees spread across a player’s contract – at a whopping £205m.
While they spent £745m on player purchases, they only made back £203m in player sales.
Chelsea suffered the highest operating loss in the Premier League last season, it has been revealed
They spent £745 buying players, including a British record £107million for Enzo Fernandez.
This included a then-British transfer record of £107 million for Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in January 2023.
A few months later, they broke that record by purchasing Moises Caicedo from Brighton for £115 million, who will be included in the 2023/24 accounts when they are released.
Their borrowing for the year was £428 million.
All this elaborate spending, outpacing their rivals in almost every financial department, led to Chelsea finishing 12th in the Premier League.
This is the first time Clearlake Capital has published its accounts during its reign at Stamford Bridge.
It was also revealed how Chelsea sold a hotel to BlueCo – the consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake which bought the club in May 2022 – for £76.3million.
This helped reduce the club’s losses and comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
This new wave of information comes amid fears over the club’s lavish spending in the 2023/24 campaign.
Chelsea’s team price was £1.117 billion and their wage bill was £404 million, second only to Manchester City.
Chelsea spent a whopping £75.1 million on agent fees alone between February 1, 2023 and February 1, 2024, the Football Association revealed on Friday.
This was partly due to exorbitant summer spending, with Caicedo, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer and more join in multi-million pound deals.
The club’s spending on new signings under Boehly has already exceeded £1 billion in less than two years.
More soon.
