By Adam Williams, Finance & Governance Correspondent

29th Apr, 2023 | 10:00am

Revealed: Chelsea hit hard as £783m development now confirmed

Chelsea were among the hardest hit as Premier League clubs lost an average of £39.1million in 2021-22, Football Insider analysis shows.

The West Londoners were one of the last clubs to file their accounts with Companies House earlier this month, revealing a deficit of £121m for the 12 months ending 30 June 2022.

Research conducted exclusively for this site by chartered accountant and football finance analyst Vivaswan Mukherjee shows that losses across the division meanwhile totalled £782.8m.

That is down on the combined shortfalls of £950m and £1.27bn during the Covid-stricken 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

Five teams posted a profit, with the average surplus amounting to £18.6m, while the average loss of the remaining 15 teams was £58.4m, a figure exceeded by 11 clubs.

Chelsea’s £453m revenue for the season contributed towards turnover across the division rising by £530m to £5.1bn, a 12 per cent increase.

While Chelsea’s wage bill will have soared dramatically in 2022-23 thanks to a flurry of expensive new signings, it remained consistent with the previous season at around £310m in 2021-22.

Their wage control decreased slightly, from 99 per cent to 92 per cent.

Their combined losses of nearly £265m in the last two financial years leave them teetering on the edge of the Premier League’s financial fair play threshold.

It is believed that a dramatic fire sale will be necessary in the summer if they are to avoid punishment for flouting the rules.

In other news, what the Chelsea dressing room really thinks of Mauricio Pochettino appointment revealed.