Premier League chief Richard Masters hints Chelsea will have to sell players after £600m spree

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has suggested Chelsea will have to sell players to balance their books after spending £600m on new signings this season.

The Blues spent £323m in the January transfer window on the likes of Enzo Fernández, Mykhailo Mudryk and Benoit Badiashile.

That followed US owner Todd Boehly’s approval of big buys by Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella and Raheem Sterling last summer.

The influx of eight new players during January has already caused problems for Graham Potter, with Sportsmail reporting that he fears the training session will be undermined by an inflated 31-man squad.

Masters addressed Boehly and Chelsea’s transfer policy at the Financial Times’ Business of Football Summit, hinting that players will have to sell themselves to stay on the right side of financial rules.

Chelsea have spent over £600m on new players under owner Todd Boehly this season

Premier League boss Richard Masters has hinted that Chelsea would need to sell players to keep their balance and books and so they can avoid breaching the rules of financial fair play.

I am not here to defend them. The new owners have owned the club for less than a year, they have had two transfer windows. You have to judge the football club after three or four years,’ he said.

“They could have bought, they would argue that they probably have a different transfer policy than the previous regime: younger players, longer contracts and lower wages.”

“Obviously, within our rules, it’s a trial over a 12-month period, so the question is will they sell some of their existing players in the next window?”

“I don’t have the answer to that question, I’m certainly not here to defend them, but you have to judge these things over a period of time.”

Chelsea sit 10th in the Premier League standings, have lost their last three games and are winless in six as they struggle to gain momentum under Potter.

Sportsmail reported last month that Chelsea plan to seek an exemption from the Premier League’s spending rules when they submit their accounts at the end of the season.

Chelsea signed eight players in January, including Enzo Fernandez (L) and Mykhailo Mudryk

There are fears that training at Chelsea has been undermined by a bloated 31-man squad.

They argue that they were unable to receive income for three months last year because the former owner, Roman Abramovich, was under government sanction following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Under Premier League rules, clubs can lose £105m in any three-year period and the situation preceding the change in ownership puts Chelsea at risk of default.

Chelsea posted losses of £153.4m in their most recent accounts for the year ending 2021 but, along with other top-tier clubs, were awarded allocations by the Premier League due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on your finances.

Another issue is breaching UEFA’s new financial fair play rules, and Sportsmail reports they could be penalized if they don’t reduce the wage bill and raise £150-200m through player sales.

The new UEFA FFP rules dictate that, from next season, the amount a club spends on net player acquisitions (expense minus revenue), plus salary, plus agent fees, must not exceed 90 per cent of the income of any club.