By Dr Dan Plumley

3rd Feb, 2023 | 12:36pm

Finance expert issues 'huge' claim amid new £163m Chelsea reveal - 'Uefa wants this shut down'

Uefa’s struggle to handle the amortisation strategy at Chelsea highlights the difficulty of regulating football on a large scale.

That is the opinion of finance expert Dr Dan Plumley, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the difficulties facing Uefa when it comes to financial regulation.

Chelsea spent a record £323million on transfers over January, yet avoided financial fair play sanctions by spreading the cost of players over long-term contracts.

Mykhaylo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez were signed for £88.5million and £107million respectively, but both joined the Blues on eight-and-a-half-year contracts, allowing the club to spread the cost throughout the length of the deal.

The Daily Mail reports that Chelsea’s amortisation charges have grown over the last decade from £59m to a Premier League-topping £163million, before even accounting for their January spending.

Uefa’s response has been to introduce regulations that limit the spread of transfer costs to a maximum of five years – a rule they hope will be in place by the summer transfer window.

Plumley believes Uefa will continue to struggle when it comes to regulation, with every club always looking for loopholes.

“Uefa’s struggles to shut this down outlines the challenge that is regulation in football,” he told Football Insider.

“Every club is looking to find advantages and loopholes wherever they can and this is no different.

“It’s not explicit in the documentation that you can’t do what Chelsea are doing, but the minute a club does that it raises eyebrows.

“The ongoing problems with amortisation highlight the challenge with regulation more broadly.

“There still is risk attached to what Chelsea are doing with these contracts for Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez because player performance and injury can be huge factors.

“But on a wider scale, the entire situation shows just how difficult it is to regulate the industry.

“Uefa are struggling as they can’t close every door.”

In other news, a pundit claims Man City could sig Ben Chilwell from Chelsea after an unexpected deal is agreed