Critics have attacked Chelsea for their cunning PSR tricks - with Newcastle United being thwarted by financial restrictions in recent years.
Premier League CEO Richard Masters insisted Chelsea have not “exploited a loophole” by selling their women’s team for £200million.
Critics have hit out at the cunning accounting tricks the Blues have done since Roman Abramovich sold the club in 2022. Chelsea have found methods to help them splash out £1.2billion in three years.
For context, PSR regulations only permit clubs to make a £105million loss over a three-year period. Tactics have included selling two hotels, the Millennium and Copthorne next to Stamford Bridge, to a sister company, BlueCo 22 Properties Ltd, for £76.5 million.
Newcastle United frustration
Selling the women’s team to BlueCO, their parent company, allowed them to register a pre-tax profit of £128million for 2024. The £200million sale was just £105million less than what the Public Investment Fund paid for Newcastle in October 2021.
This has frustrated Toon fans who have watched their club act frugally due to financial constraints. The Saudi-backed regime - operating under added scrutiny - have barely stepped a toe out of line as owners to comply with the PSR rulebook.
Richard Masters defends Chelsea
At a Football Supporters' Association event, Fulham fan Sarah Keig grilled Masters over Chelsea’s PSR strategy - but the Premier League chief rebuffed claims of foul play. Minutes from the meeting read: “SK (Sarah Keig) raised concerns about Chelsea Football Club selling their women’s team for a reported £200m to pass profit and sustainability rules, thereby exploiting a loophole.
“RM (Richard Masters) said the club hadn’t exploited a loophole as what Chelsea did was permissible. He stressed that all transactions are subject to a ‘fair market value’ assessment."
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Financial expert weighs in
Football financial expert Stefan Borson has suggested Chelsea’s sale reflects the potential of the women’s team rather than its current valuation. Using that logic, there would be nothing to prevent Newcastle or other Premier League clubs following suit.
"If Chelsea's women's team is worth £200million, all of the value in the women's team that justifies £200million is about what the women's game looks like in 2050," he said. "It's not about what it looks like in 2025.
"It's irrelevant in the formative years of the women's game that Chelsea won trophies because it's all about the future value. So if it's all about the future value of a top football club franchise in the women's game, that applies to almost any Premier League club regardless of their current size.
"Newcastle, Everton and Aston Villa's women teams are all worth over £100million on the Chelsea valuation metrics because it's not about what they have won so far or the revenue or the profit. It's about what they might be worth in 25 years' time with a football brand the equivalent of Chelsea's."
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