Chelsea could be in danger of breaching Financial Fair Play regulations if they fail to qualify for next season's Champions League, according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire. The Blues completed a British-record move for Enzo Fernandez on deadline day to bring their total reported spending for the season in excess of £485 million.
Newcastle United have been wary of FFP in recent windows despite the backing of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Eddie Howe warned business in January could 'handcuff' the club from making moves in the summer, and it is why the Magpies unsuccessfully sought a loan signing to replace Jonjo Shelvey.
Fernandez is the latest high-profile recruit at Stamford Bridge, joining the likes of Benoit Badiashile, Joao Felix,Noni Madueke, and Mykhaylo Mudryk in the mid-season window. This follows a summer spending spree which saw the arrivals of Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling.
READ MORE: Newcastle play transfer 'blinder' despite FFP 'handcuff' in the face of Chelsea's £300m spend
However, the Blues currently sit 10th in the Premier League, 10 points adrift of Manchester United and Newcastle in the race for the top four. Price of Football podcast host Maguire believes the absence of Champions League football next term will increase scrutiny on the Blues, although he admits the club have the capacity to offload a host of academy graduates.
He told the Times: “Chelsea’s wage bill in 2021 was £333 million and that was before the club had made an investment in a myriad of players on long-term contracts who are also presumably very well remunerated. I think failure to qualify for the Champions League this season will mean that they will be very much on UEFA's watchlist.
“The thing that is most likely to be able to dig Chelsea out is that they do have players who have come through the academy who count as a zero cost in FFP calculations who could be sold for significant sums. Selling the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek could generate close to £100 million between them.
"That would be pure profit under the new version of UEFA's financial sustainability rules and this more than anything else could prove to be the saviour of Chelsea in the future.”
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