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European clubs will no longer be able to spread a transfer fee across more than five years of a player’s initial contract after UEFA closed a loophole in its regulations.
Chelsea are one of those clubs most notorious for using the loophole, two examples being the record signing of Enzo Fernandez – who signed an eight-and-a-half-year deal – for £106 million, and Mykhailo Mudryk. Last season, during a massive spree, the majority of Chelsea’s signings were tied down on contracts longer than five years.
The transfer fees are spread evenly over the course of the contract, meaning the longer it is, the smaller the annual payments recorded on the club’s accounts, enabling the club to spend more money but still fall within financial fair play regulation.
In order to balance the books, Chelsea are now looking to offload a number of their first-team players.
UEFA has issued crucial fresh guidelines which come into force on July 1 designed to ensure “equal treatment of all clubs and improve financial sustainability”.
There is still nothing in the rules preventing a club from spreading the cost by extending a contract whilst the new regulations will not apply to deals already done.