Stefan Borson has tipped Chelsea to offload numerous players this summer in an effort to remain compliant with the Premier League's spending rules. Earlier this year, the Blues were found to have not breached Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) following a review of the latest results.
Under PSR, clubs in the English top-flight are not permitted to record more than £105million in losses over a three-year period - a figure that's reduced by £22million for every season the team isn't in the Premier League. Chelsea were declared compliant, avoiding punishment of any sort, such as a point deduction or fine.
Despite having been given the green light, the west Londoners were reluctant to splash the cash in January. Instead, they cashed in on Cesare Casadei, who joined Torino for £12.5million, while raking in hefty loan fees for Joao Felix, Renato Veiga, Axel Disasi and Carney Chukwuemeka.
According to Borson, who was previously an advisor at Manchester City, Chelsea could pick up from where they left off in the summer. The football finance expert told Football Insider: "Chelsea are involved in some radical financial performance as they look to build the business going forward and get themselves back in the Champions League.
"This season, they have no front of shirt, which we know is a very expensive property that's empty. We know that the three-year rolling PSR test in the Premier League continues next season, so the chances are they've got to find some very big sales again.
"They have got to somehow fill that £200-250million loss per season at the operating level. The only way of filling that is by selling players or selling other assets and making paper profits. It's just that there is no other way.
"I don't know what they've got left to sell internally. I don't know what other mechanisms they could use. I don't know who else youth player-wise they could sell to make very substantial profits. All of this we will see over time, but it does look like the issues are there."
Speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit last month, Todd Boehly was quizzed on the Premier League's spending rules. The Chelsea co-owner said: "Yeah, a seven-year contract is really a five-year contract.
"The reality is, 95 per cent of the time, you're going to have to make a decision, or you shoot yourself in the foot. So you either are able to come to terms and agree to an extension or you agree there's greener pastures out there and that's the business you're in and that's life. I think that that's the the reality of the model."
Then, on the 'most misunderstood' aspect of his and Clearlake Capital's ownership, Boehly went on: "I think the most misunderstood thing is that we're thinking about it as measured in years and and you've got to think both short and long term.
"But we're focused on the combination of both of them and seeking the best possible way to execute on that. It's a balancing act in order to figure out how to do it."
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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