Chelsea Transfers

[Vesper 30,196]

2 minutes ago, Vytis33 said:

 

I knew it was coming

never got my hopes up (as evidenced by my lack of posts on it)

[Vesper 30,196]

he cleary did not want to come here, not last year, and not now

Edited June 21, 2024 by Vesper

[LAM09 7,056]

Just now, Vesper said:

he cleary dd not want to come here, not last year, and not now

I feel like our board have played a large part in the failed negotiations.  

[mkh 598]

Source: Michael Olise was keen to be the highest paid player at #Chelsea, however the Blues are ultimately trying to cut down the wage bill and felt it was out of their range.

[via @NathGissing]

[mkh 598]

Chelsea have pulled out of the race to sign Michael Olise. The total operation of fees, wages and agents fees deemed too expensive. Focus will switch to other targets

[xPetrCechx 13,571]

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Michael Olise has chosen to join Bayern Munich. #FCBayern among 3 clubs (+ Chelsea / Newcastle) to contact Crystal Palace last week & now expected to agree deal with #CPFC for 22yo winger, whose contract includes release clause @TheAthleticFC

[Vesper 30,196]

1 minute ago, xPetrCechx said:

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Michael Olise has chosen to join Bayern Munich. #FCBayern among 3 clubs (+ Chelsea / Newcastle) to contact Crystal Palace last week & now expected to agree deal with #CPFC for 22yo winger, whose contract includes release clause @TheAthleticFC

good, gets him out of the league in terms of killing us on Manure or Citeh or Arse

[mkh 598]

Michael Olise has chosen to join Bayern Munich.

(@David_Ornstein)

[Vesper 30,196]

Michael Olise chooses to join Bayern Munich from Crystal Palace

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5582013/2024/06/21/michael-olise-bayern-munich-transfer/

Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise has decided to join Bayern Munich.

The 22-year-old France youth international has been of interest to a number of clubs this summer but he has opted for the Bundesliga side.

Bayern are now expected to agree a deal with Palace.

The Athletic revealed that the German club had contacted Palace, while Chelsea were given the go ahead to speak to Olise before deciding the finances involved were beyond reach and chose not to proceed.

Newcastle United also approached Palace while Manchester United and Manchester City have retained a strong interest in the player.

Olise was close to completing a move to Chelsea last summer but he opted to stay at Selhurst Park, signing a new four-year deal.

Olise, who joined Palace in 2021, scored 10 goals and provided six assists in 19 appearances during a standout 2023-24 campaign under new manager Oliver Glasner despite his campaign being disrupted by a hamstring injury.

His star further rose when he was named in France Under-23 head coach Thierry Henry’s preliminary squad for this summer’s Olympic Games.

The men’s football tournament runs from July 24 to August 9, when the gold medal match is scheduled to take place in Paris. If France make it to the final, Olise would have just two weeks to recover before the opening day of the 2024-25 Bundesliga campaign.

[Vesper 30,196]

Chelsea need transfers out for PSR purposes – but who does it make most sense to sell?

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5578154/2024/06/21/Chelsea-transfer-psr-sell-sales/

The days are ticking down towards June 30, which means Chelsea’s repeated insistence that they do not need to sell players by the 2023-24 accounting deadline to remain compliant with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR) will be put to the test.

Many respected football finance analysts believe otherwise. Based on his examination of the club’s published 2022-23 accounts, Swiss Ramble projected that Chelsea need to generate a PSR profit of £36million ($46m) in their 2023-24 accounts to avoid losing more than the Premier League’s maximum allowable loss of £105m over a three-year monitoring period.

There is always a possibility that Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly have found another creative accounting workaround, as they did in banking £76.5million profit for effectively selling the two hotels outside Stamford Bridge to themselves in 2022-23.

But assuming that player sales will be the primary driver of Chelsea’s ongoing PSR compliance, it is likely they have more work to do before June 30. This is the case even after recouping £55million from Mason Mount’s move to Manchester United last summer, £28million for turning Lewis Hall’s loan at Newcastle into a sale and agreeing a fee just over £35million to send Ian Maatsen to Aston Villa this month.

The easiest way for any club to dig themselves out of a PSR hole is to sell homegrown players, who count as pure profit on the books. Chelsea have already been active in this regard, and have several more options within their ranks to generate significant further transfer revenue — as well as other players who would command real interest.

However, financial compliance is not the only consideration. What do the players in question mean for the squad dynamic and its tactical balance, not to mention the relationship between the club and their match-going supporters? And what might be the opportunity cost of selling them now?

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Conor Gallagher

He led Chelsea’s entire first-team squad in minutes (4,061) played across all competitions in the 2023-24 season, many of those while wearing the captain’s armband. Cole Palmer was the undisputed player of the season at Stamford Bridge, but Gallagher had a strong claim to be the runner-up for that particular honour.

Supporters love him and every coach he has ever worked with trusts him. Mauricio Pochettino pointedly called him “priceless”; Chelsea’s valuation is at least £50million and it is very conceivable they could get offers in that range this summer, with Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur among Gallagher’s most notable admirers.

Gallagher’s contract expires in 12 months and there is no indication of movement towards an extension. He wants to stay at Chelsea but if the club decide they would rather have the profit than the player, the time to cash in is now — though he has considerable leverage after a career-best season and cannot be sold against his wishes.

Completing any deal before July 1 looks particularly difficult because Gallagher is focused on helping England at Euro 2024.

Emotion: A group of Chelsea season ticket holders have begun making and selling T-shirts with the message, “IF THEY SELL CONOR, WE RIOT!!”

Things are unlikely to go that far, but it is easy to imagine the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge growing more toxic early next season if the club are seen as having pushed out a homegrown fan favourite.

PSR: Of the players that Chelsea would realistically consider selling, Gallagher is the one who would bring in the biggest fee. As he is homegrown, every penny of that £50million or more would help offset the transfer spending that Clearlake and Boehly have overseen or the spending they plan to do after July 1.

Tactical importance: That is less clear. Pochettino viewed Gallagher as indispensable, deploying him as a pressing No 10, a box-to-box No 8, a dynamic No 6 and even starting from the left flank. New head coach Enzo Maresca has a different system and style of play that could shift the existing squad hierarchy.

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Opportunity cost: Gallagher has proved himself a better, more versatile player than some within Chelsea believed him to be. How much more improvement is in him? At the very least, he could be a very helpful player to an elite squad who happens to have an ironclad allegiance to his boyhood club and a model professional attitude. That is not lightly discarded.

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Levi Colwill

No academy graduate on Chelsea’s books is more coveted than Colwill, who spurned serious interest from Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion to sign a long-term contract last summer.

Given his age and prized profile as a ball-playing left-sided centre-back, the 21-year-old could fetch closer to £100million than £50million on the open market. But that is precisely why Chelsea consider him untouchable, and there is no longer any noise about his future lying away from Stamford Bridge.

Despite his absence from Gareth Southgate’s final squad for Euro 2024 after a club season disrupted by injury and extended deployments at left-back, Colwill is expected to blossom into England’s best centre-back in the coming years and his prominence on the pitch at Chelsea should reflect that sooner rather than later.

Emotion: Colwill has not had as much time to build a connection with match-going Chelsea fans as Gallagher or Reece James, but he is viewed as an elite Cobham talent and a possible future club captain. Leaving before that potential can be fulfilled would sting.

PSR: Given his reputation within the wider game, Colwill could command a fee of as much as £100million if Chelsea were inclined to make him available.

Tactical importance: Maresca wants his centre-backs to be comfortable playing around and through opposition pressure as well as defending high up the pitch. Colwill is not the only good option at his disposal, but he ticks all of those boxes.

Opportunity cost: Whatever price Chelsea could get for Colwill might be rendered scant consolation for the player he becomes in his prime years. They are well aware of that, which is why he is not for sale.

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Armando Broja

The last 12 months have been deeply frustrating for Broja, and unhelpful to his transfer value. He was denied the regular minutes at Chelsea to rediscover his best rhythm after an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Broja then decided to join Fulham on loan in January 2024 just as Rodrigo Muniz suddenly morphed into one of the Premier League’s most dangerous strikers.

Broja is now hoping to make a mark for Albania at Euro 2024, and Chelsea hope he does so too. Their valuation of £35million seems optimistic in light of the year the 22-year-old has endured, but it reflects their belief that many clubs in England and Europe will find his physical and technical attributes attractive.

In an interview with The Athletic this month, Broja indicated he would also be interested in a fresh start. “Nothing has been decided yet, but if I need to go somewhere else to get back in my groove, then I would want to do that,” he said.

Emotion: There were more than a few frustrated groans around Stamford Bridge at the sight of Broja’s struggles in the first half of last season, even as many recognise he is still working his way back from a serious injury. A sale would likely be forgiven because there is little confidence he will develop into an elite No 9, or even a striker on par with Tammy Abraham.

PSR: Chelsea hope to net as much as £35million for Broja, but might need to settle for less if they are truly motivated to sell him this summer.

Tactical importance: Nicolas Jackson is the first-choice No 9 at Stamford Bridge after a largely promising debut season, and Chelsea are exploring their options to sign another striker with the skill set that Maresca requires.

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Opportunity cost: Chelsea’s owners and decision-makers were enthusiastic about Broja’s potential in 2022 when they tied him to a six-year contract. There is a chance that he could still become an elite No 9 one day, but that appears to be a risk they are willing to take.

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Trevoh Chalobah

Chelsea were open to selling Chalobah within months of signing him to a six-year contract extension in November 2022, and are assessing his market again this summer.

Tosin Adarabioyo’s arrival on a free transfer makes Chalobah even more expendable, but his return to Chelsea’s starting XI in the final weeks of last season coincided with the team’s strong finish under Pochettino. He believes he belongs at this level and is prepared to compete for his place in the team.

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That makes selling Chalobah far from straightforward. He rejected a move to Nottingham Forest last summer because he had no interest in signing up for a Premier League relegation battle, and if he does have to leave Chelsea, it would ideally be to join a club of similar stature. With four years left on his deal, he has no incentive to look elsewhere.

Emotion: Chalobah is well-liked by many supporters, another Cobham success story who grew up dreaming of playing for Chelsea. He carries that deep connection onto the pitch.

PSR: The £25million offer Chelsea accepted from Nottingham Forest last summer might prove to be on the high side for Chalobah in this window, particularly if he is selective about the clubs he would consider joining.

Tactical importance: Chelsea have options they like in all the positions that Chalobah plays but the fact that he can do a solid job at centre-back, right-back or defensive midfield is useful.

Opportunity cost: There is no expectation that Chalobah, now 24, will blossom into a world-class centre-back elsewhere. But he is a solid squad option who cost nothing to acquire and, if allowed to stay, could be part of a homegrown core that maintains a consistent culture and standard at Chelsea for years to come.

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Omari Hutchinson

Though not a Cobham graduate, the cost to prise Hutchinson from London rivals Arsenal in the summer of 2022 was so negligible that a significant sale this summer would yield a big profit — even with Arsenal entitled to a percentage of any future fee.

His stock is high, too, having played a key role in Ipswich Town’s promotion from the Championship. They have already enquired about signing him permanently, but other clubs in the Premier League and across Europe have also been in touch.

Hutchinson has one guaranteed year remaining on his contract, with Chelsea holding an option for a further 12 months. Now is the optimal time to sell or extend him.

Emotion: Despite making two first-team appearances for Chelsea, Hutchinson has not been involved enough at Stamford Bridge for his potential departure to hurt much.

PSR: Hutchinson is commanding enough transfer interest to garner a relatively sizeable fee and, while it would not be pure profit, it would make a difference to Chelsea’s bottom line.

Tactical importance: Hutchinson’s path to first-team prominence at Chelsea looks blocked by Palmer, Noni Madueke and, potentially, Michael Olise.

Opportunity cost: He is a skilful, explosive winger with the talent to become a difference-maker in the Premier League, so it is not impossible that Chelsea would be selling low on him.

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Andrey Santos

There is already confidence at Chelsea that they could recoup several times the initial £13million they paid to sign Andrey Santos from Vasco da Gama in January 2023.

But there is no desire to make him available. Chelsea’s enthusiasm about Andrey Santos’ potential has not been dimmed in the slightest by an unproductive loan at Forest last season. He finished the campaign very strongly with BlueCo sister club Strasbourg, where head coach Patrick Vieira is a huge admirer.

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The 20-year-old has options again this summer, but do not expect Chelsea to consider selling: they believe he has a real chance to make himself a first-team fixture in time.

Emotion: Andrey Santos leaving Chelsea without making a single competitive appearance would barely cause a ripple at Stamford Bridge, beyond sparking distaste among some at what it would say about Clearlake and Boehly’s player-trading operation.

PSR: There is scope for a profitable sale here, but Andrey Santos is not anywhere near the top of Chelsea’s preferred players to offload.

Tactical importance: While not in the first-team picture yet, he could develop into a real No 6 or No 8 option for Maresca.

Opportunity cost: Andrey Santos has barely scratched the surface of what Chelsea believe his potential to be. Selling now is not a desirable option.

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Lesley Ugochukwu

The tall, imposing 20-year-old signed from Rennes last summer remains something of an unknown quantity at Chelsea as his first season was plagued by injury.

A little more than 300 minutes played across 12 Premier League matches were not enough to properly assess Ugochukwu’s readiness to play for Chelsea, but he will probably be behind Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia at the very least under Maresca.

It is also likely an insufficient sample to persuade another club to offer more than the £23.5million that Chelsea paid to acquire him 12 months ago. If it is decided that he will not get adequate developmental opportunities at Stamford Bridge, a loan makes more sense.

PSR: There does not seem to be much chance of a benefit here, and perhaps even more risk of an accounting loss if Chelsea were to sell after so little playing time.

Tactical importance: Ugochukwu has an intriguing blend of attributes that could make him a Premier League No 6 or No 8 in the medium to long term. But Chelsea are very unlikely to be depending on him to win matches for some time.

Opportunity cost: If the recruitment team at Chelsea believed only a year ago that Ugochukwu was worth such a sizeable transfer fee, selling so soon would be more than a little strange.

[mkh 598]

Per week wages according to fbref:

Neuer: €403,846
Müller: €394,231
Sterling: €384,698
Sane: €384,615
Kimmich: €375,000
Gnabry: €362,885
Goretzka: €346,154
Coman: €326,923
De Ligt: €307,692
Reece: €295,922

[TheHulk 2,467]

1 hour ago, Vytis33 said:

 

Yeah go get 3 Washingtons now fucking losers.

[mkh 598]

Olise has chosen Bayern over Chelsea. He wants to play Champions League. (@FabriceHawkins)

[mkh 598]

JUST IN: Michael Olise in discussions for £220,000 a week salary with Bayern. (@cfbayern @altobelli13)

[LAM09 7,056]

26 minutes ago, mkh said:

Per week wages according to fbref:

Neuer: €403,846
Müller: €394,231
Sterling: €384,698
Sane: €384,615
Kimmich: €375,000
Gnabry: €362,885
Goretzka: €346,154
Coman: €326,923
De Ligt: €307,692
Reece: €295,922

I remember Bayern being a well run club not so long ago. That's clearly a thing of the past.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

1 hour ago, LAM09 said:

I feel like our board have played a large part in the failed negotiations.  

Don’t get why they wasted 2 summers trying to convince him. Just shows how arrogant and stupid the sporting directors are. If a player says no and signs a new deal at Palace ahead of coming here, why even go back?

Would take the figures around his salary with a pinch of salt. 90% of the time these are vastly inflated.

Next it will be our board didn’t want to pay him an obscene salary so thats why he turned us down. 

Edited June 21, 2024 by OneMoSalah

[robsblubot 3,595]

21 hours ago, Thor said:

Nico Williams. 
 

Player with a loose carry, poor vision and passing who likes to flick ball past his opponents and run onto it. 
 

Nooooo thanks. 

You may be right about Nico, but it did sound like you were describing Mudryk in a nutshell there.

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

42 minutes ago, mkh said:

JUST IN: Michael Olise in discussions for £220,000 a week salary with Bayern. (@cfbayern @altobelli13)

For a player that is injured 1/3 of the season to come here and earn £100,000 more per week than the best young player in the Premier League last season. Also earning more than the likes of Enzo, Caicedo, and Gallagher, whilst they are playing in the Euros/Copa and he's going to the Olympics. 

Yeah. I can see why they didn't want to match those wages. 

[Vesper 30,196]

Who is Chelsea transfer target Samu Omorodion and would he fit Maresca’s system?

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5576228/2024/06/19/Chelsea-transfer-samu-omorodion/

It is easy to see why Chelsea made an offer for Atletico Madrid striker Samu Omorodion.

He is one of several forwards the club are looking at, but their bid of €32.5million (£27.4m) plus add-ons was turned down.

The 20-year-old joined Atletico from fellow Spaniards Granada in August but is yet to play for them, having spent last season out on loan at another La Liga side, Alaves.

When comparing Omorodion to the leading strikers at Chelsea’s Premier League rivals, there are plenty of similarities. Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, the division’s most prolific and dominating forward, Darwin Nunez of Liverpool and Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund share certain traits with the Spain youth international.

All four are tall, quick, and physically imposing — seemingly the prototype for the modern No 9. If you put these attributes into a spreadsheet of Europe’s top five domestic leagues and restricted the results to players under 21, Omorodion would be a standout among the names high on the resulting list.

But who is he and what could he offer?

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Omorodion was born in Melilla, an autonomous city of Spain that sits on the north African coast, surrounded by Morocco and a six-hour ferry ride from the Spanish mainland. Raised in Seville, he was rejected by Sevilla as a child and developed at AD Nervion, a local amateur club, where the president gave him a €5 bonus for every goal he scored to pay his bus fare.

While scouts from Sevilla and neighbours Real Betis attributed Omorodion’s dominance in youth football to his physicality, his coaches at Nervion saw an emerging talent with instinct and intelligence.

He got his break at 17, signing for Granada, and impressed in his first full season with their B team, scoring 14 goals in 29 games in Spain’s fourth tier. Then, after opening last season with a goal on his La Liga debut for Granada against them, Atletico bought Omorodion for €6million (£5.1m/$6.4m at current exchange rates) and immediately loaned the then 19-year-old out to Alaves.

At Alaves, based in northern Spain’s Basque Country, he scored nine goals in 35 La Liga appearances last season, his first in Spain’s top flight, as they finished 10th in the 20-team top flight.

“He’s a player with a privileged physique, imposing just looking at him,” said Alaves head coach Luis Garcia. “Big, strong, fast, wants to learn and improve. His movement into space is very good, and he wins a lot of duels. He needs to demand more of himself to become a really top player.”

Omorodion’s non-penalty expected goals (xG) of 0.52 places him in the 85th percentile among similar players in Europe’s top five leagues (meaning just 15 per cent were better). Scoring those nine goals from an xG figure of 11.5 suggests a slight underperformance but indicates potential for growth, which could come with time spent on the training ground. For comparison, Nicolas Jackson, Chelsea’s striker signing from La Liga (Villarreal in his case) last summer, scored 14 times from an xG of 18.6.

His exceptional pace — Spanish news outlet Marca claims he was among the fastest players in La Liga last season, with a top speed of 34.5km/h — has made him a constant threat to many teams in the division, and he uses his imposing frame to bulldoze through defences.

Here, against Almeria, Omorodion assesses Chumi and realises he can outpace the 25-year-old defender.

Instead of cutting in, he takes Chumi down the line, successfully getting past him. This forces goalkeeper Luis Maximiano to rush out and foul Omorodion.

Omorodion is a “fox in the box”, with excellent off-ball positioning in the final third.

He has an impressive habit of finding space inside the opposition box, which improves his chances of finishing or getting into better positions from which to score. This can force defenders to constantly adjust and react, creating confusion and opening spaces for other attackers.

Below is that goal he scored for Granada against Atletico at the start of last season.

As soon as Gonzalo Villar wins the ball back, Omorodion instantly considers his best move. Spotting Stefan Savic nearby, he distances himself by dropping back, creating space. Omorodion then signals for the ball to be played into that gap.

Before Savic can react, Omorodion exploits the room he’s made for himself, receives the pass and scores.

While Omorodion is excellent in open space, he is limited in the build-up phase — at this early stage in his career, he relies on service from team-mates and is not a primary creator.

He averaged only 0.81 progressive passes per 90 minutes (putting him in the seventh percentile) and created 1.49 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes, significantly fewer than Jackson (3.05) did for Chelsea last season. These are areas he would have to improve in under new head coach Enzo Maresca.

Still, Chelsea’s opening bid suggests they are aware Omorodion is not yet quite at the level they require to lead the line for their first team.

The Spain Under-21 international, who is also eligible for Nigeria through his parentage, is a raw talent, but the attributes of a potentially dominant striker are all visible.

With David Datro Fofana, Romelu Lukaku and Armando Broja all still on the books, it is curious Chelsea are targeting a striker of Omorodion’s profile at this stage of the window. However, under the ownership of Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly over the past two years, the west London club have prioritised younger signings in the transfer market.

While bringing in a new No 9 was always a priority for this summer, given the challenges of staying within profit and sustainability rules (PSR), Chelsea cannot look at high-profile, high-fee options such as Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. Nor are they looking to replace or relegate Jackson after just one season.

Broja’s likely sale in this window after being loaned to Fulham for the second half of last season creates an opening for another striker to come in and compete with Jackson for minutes up front. Chelsea believe there will be plenty of those to go around, with the return of European football in the 2024-25 Conference League and then FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup next June and July.

Omorodion is not the only striker Chelsea are looking at, but he is indicative of the specific profile they want. He is mobile, physically imposing, and can compete with burly Premier League centre-backs while being technical, and positionally fluid enough to fit into Maresca’s system.

While he does not yet excel in the build-up phase of attacks, Maresca’s experience working with off-the-shoulder strikers such as Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka at Leicester City last season suggests he can find solutions with attackers who are not seamless fits in his system.

Omorodion’s debut La Liga campaign, in which he impressed in a limited Alaves team mostly as a 19-year-old (he turned 20 on May 5), also marks him out as the kind of emerging talent Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley have been tasked with collecting in every position.

He may not end up at Stamford Bridge in the blue shirt as Atletico are very keen to retain him, but Chelsea’s interest in Omorodion is consistent with the club’s broader recruitment strategy.

GO DEEPER

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[Vesper 30,196]

June 30 – the transfer deadline making rival Premier League clubs friends with benefits

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5578737/2024/06/21/transfers-between-premier-league-clubs/

There is not a Premier League club prepared to admit it, but June 30 has become a date laden with significance.

The end of football’s financial year represents the final cut-off point for compliance, one last opportunity to tidy up a club’s books. Sell a player and solve your problems. Fail and fear the repercussions.

These final days of June and the business they bring can be the difference between conformity and a breach of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

Everton and Nottingham Forest can attest to that. Both have tried to offload an asset and retreat under the allowable losses threshold in summers past, but failing to do so eventually brought disciplinary hearings and points deductions.

This summer, clubs are seeking silver bullets in the transfer market again — but this time around their shared problems are leading to mutually beneficial solutions.

Aston Villa, Chelsea and Everton, three clubs thought to be sailing close to the PSR wind, have all spent the week negotiating deals that will strengthen their positions ahead of June 30.

Ian Maatsen, the talented left-back, will leave Chelsea to join Villa for £37.5million ($47.5m), while a deal had also been proposed for striker Jhon Duran to head in the opposite direction for a similar sum.

Villa have opened up a line with Everton, too. As well as lining up winger Lewis Dobbin from Goodison Park, they could send midfielder Tim Iroegbunam in the opposite direction. Two separate deals for sums in the same ballpark, this time about £9million.

Such deals and potential deals promise to fill holes in squads ahead of 2024-25 but, importantly, also improve PSR positions before June 30. Premier League rivals are becoming friends with benefits.

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What is the relevance of June 30?

A date that looms on the horizon marks the end of English football’s financial year. Accounting periods typically run from July 1 to June 30 and the numbers that are posted matter.

Every club is allowed total losses of £105million over a rolling three-year period in the Premier League, adjusted for those clubs not in the division for all three years. Go north of that, as Everton (twice) and Nottingham Forest did, and there will be trouble.

All clubs will be aware of their positions — good, bad or indifferent — as the end of another financial year rolls around, with these closing weeks of June a last chance to remedy problems.

Forest’s disciplinary hearing, published in March, underlined the importance of June 30. Aware of their overspending in the period under assessment, Forest made attempts to sell star man Brennan Johnson to be compliant.

That sale, to Tottenham for £47.5million did not come until the final days of the summer window, too late to address a spending breach of £34.5m that brought an eventual four-point deduction.

Cards are being kept close to chests this summer but the business discussed by Aston Villa, Chelsea and Everton this week would indicate those three clubs are all open to improving their financial results in the next 10 days.

How do these deals benefit clubs?

If we start with the biggest — Maatsen’s move to Villa — it will be a significant boost to Chelsea. A youngster who joined aged 16, his book value will be close to zero. That £37.5million, therefore, can effectively be added to the profit column and immediately redress the losses Chelsea have incurred over the last three years.

Villa, meanwhile, do not need take the equivalent hit. That £37.5million can be amortised, or spread, over five years, meaning only £7.5million shows up on the books every year. That can also be amortised on a monthly basis to ensure almost none of the outlay shows up in the 2023-24 accounts.

Selling Duran would not have been as beneficial to Villa as the sale of Maatsen has been to Chelsea, but it would still have been a welcome windfall.

The business drawn up between Villa and Everton this week carries similar benefits.

In selling Dobbin to Villa, Everton will be able to book the entire fee as profit in their 2023-24 accounts, owing to the winger’s status as an academy graduate. Villa, meanwhile, are able to amortise the cost over the length of Dobbin’s contract. So a £10million purchase, for example, could be spread over five years, ensuring the player only shows up as £2million annual outlay.

Roles would be reversed in the Iroegbunam transfer. Everton could amortise the cost, while Villa book a useful profit on a player they signed from West Bromwich Albion two years ago without recommitting the sum to Dobbin in their own accounts. Both clubs win without losing a player.

There was a time when Dobbin and Iroegbunam, players with similar market values, would simply have been swapped. That option would still have been open for Villa and Everton but it is telling that the two transfers are being treated as separate transactions, independent of the other.

It all effectively amounts to helpful accounting ahead of June 30, replacing one asset with another for mutual benefit.

 

 

Lewis Dobbin may be on the move this summer (Tony McArdle/Everton FC/Getty Images)

 

Is this kind of trading all within the rules?

There is nothing to stop clubs from buying and selling players with each other in any of these cases and the motives for doing so are irrelevant. Aston Villa, Chelsea and Everton can state it is business that benefits the make-up of their squad and any further advantages gained are incidental.

Any Premier League club, whether buyer or seller, would theoretically need to do is satisfy the regulations in place.

As a result of Newcastle United’s takeover by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2021, rules were introduced to ensure all transactions would be checked to ensure they did not exceed “fair market value”. That was a move primarily focused on limiting how much Newcastle could secure through Saudi sponsorship deals but, as in the case of Allan Saint-Maximin’s £30million move to PIF-owned Al Ahli, also covered transfers — clubs with the same owner could not bail each other out with a price inflated for the purpose.

There has already been grumblings from within the Premier League over the definition of ‘fair market value’ and how it is judged, and that is particularly challenging with player valuations. It grows even more onerous when two unconnected clubs are doing business in an open market.

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Has there ever been anything similar to this before?

The biggest trade to ever cause surprise perhaps involved Juventus and Barcelona in the summer of 2020.

Miralem Pjanic, who had just turned 30, was sold by Juventus to Barcelona for €60million (£51m $64m); while Arthur headed in the opposite direction for €72m (£61m; $77m). It would later transpire that only €12m (£10m; $13m) changed hands but both Juventus and Barcelona, facing huge financial pressures in the midst of the Covid pandemic, were able to book handsome profits. Juventus always argued the deal was legitimate and in breach of no rules.

That deal was eventually the most high-profile case of the 62 transfers investigated by the Italian Football Federation (FICG), with 42 involving Juventus. They were referred to as “mirror” deals and also included the 2019 trade when Danilo (€37m; £31m; $40m) joined Juventus and Joao Cancelo (€65m; £55m; $70m) moved to Manchester City.

The FICG’s case, which included a further 10 clubs, essentially collapsed due to the challenges of establishing the value of a footballer. A subsequent investigation into the club’s transfer dealings, though, found evidence of false accounting and saw Juventus docked 10 points.

The Pjanic and Arthur trade has become infamous but there is nothing to suggest any wrongdoing in the business proposed in the Premier League this summer.

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