Chelsea’s fourth-placed Premier League finish last season means they are back to rubbing shoulders with the big timers in the Champions League – but why are the likes of Joao Pedro at risk of being banned from playing in Europe’s top-tier competition, and what are the Blues doing to prevent that from happening?
Pedro, who signed from Brighton & Hove Albion this summer alongside the likes of Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Jorrel Hato, has started his Stamford Bridge career with a bang, having scored three goals in a triumphant Club World Cup campaign.
Moving forward, the talismanic Brazilian is expected to be a vital cog in any success Chelsea have under Italian boss Enzo Maresca – but why are the club now at risk of having to leave the 23-year-old at home while they participated in Europe in the 2025/26 season?
Chelsea At Risk of Not Being Able to Play Joao Pedro in Champions League
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That’s because Maresca – one of the best managers in world football – and Co now have less than two weeks (the deadline has been set for 2 September) to prove to UEFA that they have balanced their books enough so that summer signings, such as Pedro, are permitted to join their Champions League squad.
As always, Chelsea have sold well this summer. In terms of the latter, Joao Felix has joined Al-Nassr; Djordje Petrovic is Bournemouth’s new No.10 and Burnley have swooped in for a two-man deal for Armando Broja and Lesley Ugochukwu. None of those summer sales, however, will be taken into consideration by European football’s governing body, UEFA, with whom Chelsea entered into a settlement agreement in July for ‘flunking’ regulations in regard to finances.
Confirmed to Mail Online, UEFA have told Chelsea that their auditors will only take money made on the following into consideration: those who were named in the squad submitted by Chelsea for last season’s Europa Conference League knockout stage.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s move to Everton and Noni Madueke switching Chelsea for Arsenal will therefore both be accounted for, thus helping the west Londoners’ financial case with UEFA. The departures of Felix – who only featured in the Conference League for the first half of 2024/25, do not count.
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As a result, the likes of Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku – both involved in their Conference League run-in – could be on the chopping block as Chelsea face a deadline of 2 September to comply with UEFA rules and register summer additions.
The club are prioritising permanent deals for the aforementioned duo – and potentially others, too – rather than loaning them out like they did with Marc Guiu. In layman’s terms, the cost of adding new players to their Champions League squad must already be covered by money earned from player sales.
Nicolas Jackson
UEFA’s literature defined this as ‘cost savings’ versus ‘new costs’ and related to their A List, where they can register up to 25 senior stars. If they wish, they can choose to register fewer players in order to meet the target they must reach by early September.
In terms of Chelsea’s B list – which is reserved for young players born on and after January 1, 2004, and who have been at the club for at least two years – the club do not face any additional restrictions, according to an in-depth report from Mail Online.