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Chelsea had just suffered their worst season in the Premier League, but Eddie Howe was unwilling to rejoice when the Newcastle United boss warned that groups that “didn’t have the season they were looking for would be fighting again”. At the tip of his brain is a profitably assembled Chelsea team under Mauricio Pochettino’s management.
“Next season they will be a big threat,” he told reporters at his last pre-match crusade news convention last month. Many new players is very complicated to do.
“That has been their biggest challenge, however, next year many of those players will now delight in the Premier League. They will have adapted to the league and will be a big threat. “
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Howe didn’t know it at the time, but Chelsea will also be subsidized through new investments from, all, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). play after Newcastle’s co-owners took over the 4 biggest clubs in the Kingdom, whose main objectives are played at Stamford Bridge. Without that lifeline, Chelsea may not have been able to do as much business as she hoped later this summer.
While most of the additions Chelsea’s owners have made in a £600 million spending frenzy have been linked to remarkably lengthy deals, to split the charge of fees over their contracts, the Blues still want to generate a budget to meet the FFP. After all, the Premier League’s sustainability and benefits regulations allow clubs to lose a maximum of £105 million over a continuous three-year period. 2021/22 season and £153. 4 million in 2020/21.
That’s why we’re likely to see several Chelsea players sold before the end of the month, as Pochettino’s side have a high incentive to close those deals before June 30, which would boost sales to the accounts of the season that just ended.
While this, in theory, weakens Chelsea’s hand in negotiations (clubs know they have to get rid of players), the Blues’ plight has coincided with the effective revival of the Saudi Pro League. The PIF, which of course owns an 80% stake in Newcastle, has taken over the 4 biggest clubs in Saudi Arabia: Al Ahli, Al Ittihad, Al Hilal and Al Nassr, and the sovereign wealth fund has promised that this will “trigger various business opportunities, adding investment”. Chelsea will be the immediate beneficiary.
Just as Chelsea want to raise funds, an exorbitant salary bill and an inflated team, PIF wants standard-bearers, players of foreign reputation. Chelsea, unlike Newcastle, have a plethora available.
There are also long-standing links between Chelsea homeowners and the PIF, and this isn’t the first time they’ve done business. Far from it, Todd Boehly, who visited Saudi Arabia on the floor this month, sits on the board of Cain International while some of Chelsea’s co-owners, Jonathan Goldstein, is the company’s CEO. Why is it relevant? Well, Cain already partnered with PIF for a $900 million investment in Aman Group less than a year ago.
Passing a handful of player moves is nothing compared to a deal of this magnitude and negotiations are already complex for multiple players. N’Golo Kante is about to seal a move to the Al Ittihad champions; Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech are expected to sign for Al Ahli and Al Nassr respectively; Kalidou Koulibaly is wanted through Al Hilal; and even Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, who scored only 3 goals last season, has his enthusiasts in Saudi Arabia. Yes, really.
The most productive years of these players are arguably them, however, the PIF proposes to more than quadruple the league’s advertising revenue, to £386 million, so this star-studded strategy does not deserve to be a surprise. In fact, this is what some The idea of foreigners would take place at Newcastle, the so-called “richest club in the world”, after the takeover bid.
Although Newcastle have since spent more than £250m on movement fees, the more sensible have taken a considered strategy, targeting Dan Burn and Chris Wood rather than Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, and fair play monetary regulations have been at the forefront. their minds.
Chelsea’s owners have taken a very different approach, but the Blues would arguably be about to dig themselves out of their FFP hole. With the PIF.