UEFA to close loophole in wake of Chelsea’s record spending after complaints from rival clubs

UEFA is prepared to close the loophole that has allowed Chelsea to spread the cost of its record transfer spending over up to eight years after receiving complaints from other Premier League clubs.

Sportsmail revealed last Saturday that several of Chelsea’s main rivals had accused the club of trying to circumvent FFP rules by using write-down to spread the cost of Mykhailo Mudryk’s £88m fee over eight years for accounting purposes. .

FIFA’s statutes already set five years as the maximum contract length, but exceptions are allowed, which Chelsea have used to defer much of the cost of record £460m transfer spending since Todd Boehly bought the club last July. .

In addition to Mudryk, who signed the longest contract in Premier League history, French defender Benoit Badiashile and Ivory Coast striker David Datro Fofana signed six-and-a-half-year contracts this month following the arrivals of Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella with contracts of seven and six years respectively last summer.

Having been alerted to what appears to be a clear trend from other clubs, UEFA have reacted and plan to put a five-year limit on the time during which a player’s transfer fee can be spread out starting next summer. .

The rule change will not affect Chelsea’s recent signings, but is likely to limit their room for maneuver in subsequent transfer windows.

Chelsea’s generous spending over the summer and January transfer windows has broken records, with the £460m figure already the highest in the world and the highest in Premier League history, and expected to rise even more.

The previous record was set by Manchester City, who spent £328.1m in 2017-18.