Chelsea’s acquisition of Liam Rosenior to replace the outgoing Enzo Maresca will have been simplified by the existing BlueCo relationship, but not totally without complications.
When news of Maresca’s departure broke on the 1st of January, the only question on the minds of fans was who would be taking his place as Chelsea head coach.
The position has now been filled, with Rosenior making his first statement as Chelsea manager early on Tuesday after putting pen to paper on a deal running until 2032.
Chelsea are certainly backing the new head coach 👀
Thoughts on the contract, Chelsea fans?
Liam Rosenior and Enzo Maresca
Photo by Daniel Chesterton/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
👇 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say
Now that the drama of the hiring process has come to an end, we can shift focus to other questions, like just how much this mid-season personnel change is going to cost the Blues, and why the Premier League and UEFA will be keeping a close eye on the situation.
Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior will be compensated well by Chelsea
Given the nature of his exit, it’s unlikely that the club will be forced to pay out the rest of Maresca’s contract. They will have to fork out a decent sum, though.
Adam Williams, Head of Football Finance and Governance for GRV Media, explained the situation to The Chelsea Chronicle.
He said: “Maresca was one-and-a-half years into a five-year deal, which was reportedly worth about £4.5m annually. We don’t know whether that figure was just his fixed pay or whether variable pay and image rights were extra on top.
“Either way, I think the reports that Maresca has walked away from £14m in compensation are probably wide of the mark in reality. Contract terminations are rarely as simple as paying off the remaining value of the deal. And he certainly won’t have walked away with nothing. There will have been a settlement, which I suspect is probably at least a year’s wages plus a premium on top.
“From Chelsea’s side, you’ve got legal fees and so on to deal with too. So I’d be fairly confident it’s going to be £5m, £6m, maybe £7m or more. You’ve also got six staff leaving with Maresca, albeit on much, much more modest deals.”
On the new Chelsea hire, his existing relationship with BlueCo will have made the finances a bit more straightforward than if it was a new face coming in.
Williams continues: “When you’re searching for a new manager, that itself can be an expensive process – agents’ fees, consultancy fees, administrative fees. However, given that Rosenior has been heir apparent at Chelsea for some time and is already on the BlueCo payroll, that’s clearly not an issue.
“They will have paid a fee and a signing bonus for Rosenior too. We can only guess what that was, as I don’t think there is any reliable reporting on the matter, nor is there any on how much he was earning at Strasbourg.”
Rosenior is taking three backroom staff with him from Strasbourg, so they will be accounted for in the payroll changes as well.
Strasbourg Head Coach Liam James Rosenior reacts
Photo by Sathire Kelpa/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Chelsea need to keep Premier League and UEFA rules in mind
It’s not only about appeasing the two managers. Chelsea need to also abide by the separate sets of regulations imposed by the Premier League and by UEFA.
That is particularly crucial with regards to the European body, whose wrath Chelsea have felt as recently as two seasons ago.
Williams explains more: “We do know, however, that it will have to be a standard market rate to appease the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction rules. UEFA will also adjust the value of the deal for FFP purposes if they suspect it doesn’t represent fair market value.
“We’ve seen them do this in the past, and I suspect Chelsea’s next set of accounts might detail a few adjustments of transfer values between themselves and Strasbourg. So there’s no room for jiggery-pokery, really.
“All in all, I think the total cost of removing Maresca and appointing Rosenior and his staff is probably going to be £10m-plus. As a cash expense, that’s peanuts to BlueCo. For context, each place in the Premier League is going to be worth about £3m this season in terms of prize money and much more if it’s the difference between European football or not.
“One thing Chelsea will be tracking is how the expense leaves them in terms of their FFP settlement with UEFA. However, that’s a four-year settlement and the first year is not particularly restrictive. They will have given themselves a margin for error when they set the budgets at the start of the season.”
Chelsea’s matchday income is going BACKWARDS 📉
If you had a direct line to Boehly and Eghbali, how would you tell them to sort this out?
TalkingPoints graphic showing Chelsea's matchday income plotted against inflation
Chelsea matchday income vs inflation Credit: Adam Williams/The Chelsea Chronicle/GRV Media
👇 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say
It’s never going to be cheap taking this kind of action, especially in the middle of the season. Chelsea are one of the clubs on whom the brightest spotlight shines when it comes to finance and governance.
The estimated £10 million for the change to Rosenior is a number that won’t empty BlueCo’s pockets, but they will nevertheless be taking special care to ensure they are complinat and covered against further legal troubles.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox