Chelsea’s financial woes laid bare as accounts show club had the highest operating loss EVER last season after assembling the most expensive squad… and had to sell hotel to stave off points penalty

Chelsea’s financial calamity has been laid bare after it was revealed they posted the most severe operating loss of any Premier League club in history last season. 

Their operating loss was a staggering £249million, almost £100m more than their nearest rival, Leicester, who recorded a £152m deficit. 

They also had the most expensive squad, valued at £1.117billion, and the second-highest wage bill in the top flight of £404m, not far behind Manchester City. 

It has also emerged that Chelsea sold a hotel to BlueCo – the consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake who bought the club in May 2022 – for £76.3million in a bid to stay within the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules. 

While they splashed £745m on player purchases, they only recouped £203m in player sales.

Chelsea spent the most in amortisation – transfer fees spread across a player’s contract – with a whopping £205m.

That included a then-British transfer record of £107m on Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in January 2023.

Months later, they smashed that record by purchasing Moises Caicedo from Brighton for £115m, which will be included in the accounts for 2023/24 when they are released. 

Their borrowing for the year was £428m. 

All of this elaborate spending, outstripping their rivals in almost every financial department, led to Chelsea finishing 12th in the Premier League. 

This is the first time that Clearlake Capital have released accounts during their reign at Stamford Bridge. 

This fresh wave of information comes amid fears over the club’s lavish spend in the 2023/24 campaign. 

Chelsea spent a staggering £75.1million on agents’ fees alone between February 1, 2023 and February 1, 2024, as revealed by the Football Association on Friday.

That was partly down to an exorbitant summer spend, with Caicedo, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, and more joining in multi-million pound deals.

The club’s spending on new signings under Boehly has already passed £1billion in under two years. 

And their fondness for amortisation will have to be rethought.

In December, Premier League clubs agreed to limit the amortisation period to five years instead of eight. Chelsea were, interestingly, one of 15 clubs to vote in favour of it. 

For example, if a club bought a player for £8m, they used to be able to register that as a £1m spend per season for the next eight years to keep on the right side of financial regulations. 

That would now be £1.6million per season for five years. 

The new rules will not be backdated, meaning fees for players such as Moises Caicedo will still be spread over the eight-year contract he signed last summer.

Brentford were the only club to post an operating profit in 2022/23, managing £4m. 

They spent the least on player wages and amortisation and had the second-lowest spend on their squad. 

Everton and Nottingham Forest have been hit with penalties this season for brwaching PSR rules in recent seasons.

Premier League PSR rules permit clubs to lose £105million over the three-year window and the independent commission found Everton exceeded that by £16.6m up to 2022-23.

Everton were hit with a 10-point penalty back in November for a PSR breach relating to the three-year period that ended in the 2021-22 season. This was reduced to six on appeal in February.

Recently, they were hit with another two-point dock. 

This second breach, for which Everton were referred to an independent commission back in January, relates to the three-year accounting period ending in the 2022-23 campaign. 

Relegation rivals Nottingham Forest were docked four points in March for falling foul of PSR regulations – they too launched an appeal.

More to follow.