The owners of Chelsea have issued £65million worth of new shares, taking the total value of allotted shares since October last year to £335million.
Filings made with Companies House this week showed that BlueCo22 Limited, the parent company through which American private equity fund Clearlake Capital and US billionaire Todd Boehly, along with the rest of the consortium that acquired the club in May 2022, own the club, allocated 1,000 new shares at a price of £65,000 per share.
The move was made at the end of February and likely borne from a plan to tackle some of the club’s burdensome transfer debt, with the current financial year running until the end of July for Chelsea.
The 2023/24 financial figures have yet to be released, but a look at the Deloitte Football Money League report, which was published in January, shows that Chelsea are likely to post revenue in the region of £469million, a sum that placed them 10th on the Money League list, with the lowest figure outside of the Premier League’s so-called ‘big six’ after being leapfrogged by Arsenal, who jumped from 10th to seventh.
The Deloitte report did not break down how much transfer debt clubs had but it did show that wage spend was set to decrease by around £66million, from £404million in 2022/23 to £338million in 2023/24.
READ MORE: Reece James' Chelsea statement, Enzo Fernandez wows and wonderkid sends Enzo Maresca message
READ MORE: Chelsea cannot ignore clear Liam Delap transfer truth as Victor Osimhen considered
Chelsea have aggressively pursued a strategy in the transfer market that has seen them spend well over £1.2billion on talent since the new owners arrived, with the club seeking to sign highly-rated young talent that they feel can provide a foundation for long-term success at Stamford Bridge.
The plan, however, has yet to truly take flight and the club has failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League under the new owners, something that was not part of the plan given the importance of Champions League revenue to the investment thesis behind it. That could change next season with the club chasing down a top-four spot this campaign.
In terms of what transfer debt might look like, the club had a £87.9million cash balance at the end of the 2022/23 accounting period, but estimates from football finance expert Swiss Ramble had transfer debt sitting at £479million, assuming that it made up 90% of the club’s trade creditors given that it is not itemised in the club accounts.
Were that figure even close to being correct it represents the largest figure in the Premier League by a huge margin, with Tottenham Hotspur’s £307million a distant second. They do have receivables of £229million to give a net transfer debt of around £250million, but that money has to be paid to clubs, and with debt expensive right now due to high interest rates, fresh equity injected into the club allows them to provide working capital to help them meet financial obligations such as transfer instalments that are due.