New accounts published by Chelsea show a payment of £50m to former directors
REVEALED: Chelsea’s owners have paid former director Marina Granovskaia £35m for helping with the takeover… as the Blues become the first club to post a £1bn loss in the latest accounts
- Accounts published by Chelsea reveal a £35 million payment to Marina Granovskaia
- It is described as payment for ‘services related to the sale of the club’ last year
- The Blues are the first Premier League club to record a loss of £1 billion
Chelsea’s accounts have revealed a payment of £49.75 million to former club directors for ‘services in connection with the sale of the club’ – as the Blues became the first club to take losses in excess of £1 billion.
Marina Granovskaia, who had acted as club director and chief assistant during Roman Abramovich’s time as owner, was paid £35 million as the highest paid director.
The remaining £14 million appears to have been split between the club’s long-standing former chairman Bruce Buck and others.
Todd Boehly’s consortium took over the club last June and it appears they paid the departing staff handsomely for the transition with wages up by £15m compared to the previous year.
It came as the Blues posted an operating loss of £235m for the 2021/22 season, with their total loss now exceeding £1bn, the first Premier League side to reach this mark.
New accounts released by Chelsea have revealed a £35 million payment to outgoing managing director Marina Granovskaia
The club is now the first to post a loss of more than £1 billion after an operating loss of £235 last season
Last season’s costs included £77m for the ‘impairment of player registrations’, essentially write-offs of players after misjudged signings, and a further £18m spent on legal fees.
Boehly’s spending since taking over the club is notorious, with the newly released accounts confirming that £368m has been spent on 18 new players and ‘restructuring first-team management’ over the summer transfer window.
Their acquisitions in January, which cost them a further £323 million, will appear in their next bill.
Chelsea also lost 16 players for a total of £22 million, but turnover soared by £46 million as football came completely out of the shadow of Covid-19.
Despite big spending in West London, the Blues have struggled this season and are 11th in the Premier League with eight games left.
They are still competing in the Champions League, but face a tough quarter-final against Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
Frank Lampard, who led the club through the first game of his second spell in their 1-0 defeat to Wolves on Saturday, appeared confident in his side’s European chances in Europe.
The accounts also confirmed Todd Boehly’s £600 million splurge on new players last summer
Frank Lampard insisted his side improve after their 1-0 defeat to Wolves on Saturday
He said, ‘If you’re worried, don’t come. The players shouldn’t be. I’m not saying the team doesn’t have that aggression, it just brings it together. Wednesday will be a completely different game.
‘I am very happy to be back. On Wednesday there is a huge game waiting for us in which everything changes.
“It’s a big job to manage Chelsea, we know we’re not in a position we want to be in. There’s always a reason for it.
‘I didn’t expect to solve everything in one day. You need to have more aggression in your game, more speed and more competitive duels going your way.’