Chelsea's owners to transform contract structure - here are their plans
Suraj Radia
- 18 Jul 2022 21:32 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea’s new owners are set to overhaul the club’s bonus and contract structures in a bid to rebalance the wage bill and help motivate their best performers.
The club have reportedly been offering heavily-incentivised contracts to players this summer including new signings Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Former owner Roman Abramovich preferred to hand out large basic salaries to players but without bonuses for top four finishes, instead only rewarding players for winning trophies.
The new regime have felt the downside of the costly contracts as they are struggling to shift on several fringe players who are on large deals and unable to find suitors capable of matching their wages.
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What is Chelsea’s new approach and how will it affect them?
The new scale of contracts are believed to include bonuses for Champions League group qualification and 60 per cent of games played across a season.
Manchester City are also understood to operate in a similar way and it is hoped that the new scheme will help balance the wage bill and ensure that Chelsea’s top earners correlate with their best performers.
The previous structure was successful as Chelsea won 19 trophies during Abramovich’s tenure but the club also often saw performances and results decline once the title was out of reach, potentially because players had no financial incentive to perform.
✅ Kalidou Koulibaly for £33m
✅ Raheem Sterling for £47.5m
Incredible business. 👏 pic.twitter.com/a1noGFNWdd— LDN (@LDNFootbalI) July 16, 2022
Sterling’s new £300,000 contract has made him the highest-paid player at Chelsea and the 27-year-old would be among the top three earners in the league if he achieves all his bonuses.
Meanwhile, Koulibaly has also benefited from the change in approach as the 31-year-old was handed a four-year contract, compared to under Abramovich where players in their 30s would be offered rolling 12-month deals.
Presnel Kimpembe and Jules Kounde are among the targets being lined up by Chelsea and the defensive duo are also expected to be offered terms in line with the new incentivised structure.
The model is also set to come into play when Chelsea offer extensions to their current players, with Mason Mount, Reece James and Edouard Mendy, among the lowest earners in the first team, on course for new deals.
