The latest UEFA European Club Finance and Investment Landscape 2023 Report confirms, and as we suspected, Chelsea has assembled the most expensive squad ever, costing €1.66bn (£1.39bn). It’s then more than Real Madrid’s previous maximum (£1.12bn in 2020) and frankly enough to have rich club owners raise an eyebrow.
While Chelsea fans will be happy to welcome a star-studded squad, rival financial experts and even other sides are wondering if Todd Boehly is capable of building an empire on quicksand.
The Billion-Euro Club: Chelsea Leads the Pack
For their part, the UEFA report also notes that four clubs together have had a squad valuation higher than €1bn:
Chelsea – €1.66bn
Manchester City – €1bn+
Manchester United – €1bn+
Arsenal – €1bn+
Nine of the world’s 20 most expensive squads are of English clubs, as the Premier League’s financial dominance speaks for itself. In fact, West Ham’s squad was surprisingly more expensive than that of Barcelona or AC Milan. Yes, you read that right. Football is wild, and the Hammers have outspent some of Europe’s big names.
Wage Wars: Chelsea Spending Big, But At What Cost?
One is bettering oneself with billions in transfers but not keeping astronomical wage bills. UEFA’s report shows:
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has a wage war with €658m (£551.7m) in wages for 2017/18.
Manchester City comes next at €554 M (£464.5m).
Chelsea, too has kept contributing to the wage inflation going on across Europe.
It points out that club revenue growth is struggling to keep pace with ballooning employees’ wages – technical and administrative staff pay grew by 19% in 2023. More than some stock market gains, that is!
UEFA’s Crackdown: Is Blues in Trouble?
UEFA, it should be said, isn’t blind to these financial fireworks. Clubs begin capping their spending on wages, transfers and agent fees next season to 70% of revenue. There are some current clubs, like Aston Villa, who currently sit on a wage to revenue ratio of 91%, a financial tightrope act waiting for it to snap.
So, Under UEFA’s new cost rules, Chelsea could soon be sanctioned if they do not find a way of balancing the books. Therefore, The Blues need to be careful around looming Financial Fair Play (FFP).
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