Chelsea fire sale in prospect as Blues look to cut wages by €90m
Robin Bairner
- 21 Sept 2023 08:08 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea appear to be ready to take an axe to their squad in order to slash their wage bill by more than €90 million per year, one of the co-founders of Clearlake Capital has admitted.
The Blues have made headlines in recent months due to their big spending in the transfer market, with the Todd Boehly-led side splashing out over €1 billion on new additions to the squad.
Chelsea spent more than €450 million on new players this summer, headlined by the €116m addition of Moises Caicedo to their ranks from Brighton.
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But the Stamford Bridge side may be forced to curtail their spending in the months ahead, with an admission that the club’s wage bill needs chopped, despite a possible investment in the club of €470m from Ares Management.
“We have bought an asset that is very coveted by many other potential buyers,” Clearlake co-founder Jose Feliciano told the IPEM private equity conference in Paris via the Daily Mail.
“Ultimately, we are extremely aligned with that supporter and fan base because the best way to make our club more valuable is to win.
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“The team had a tough first season, our first season. We have a tremendous amount of talent.
“I think what we are trying to do is reduce the salary and essentially the opex [operating expenses] of the business by over $100m (€92m) per year.”
What this means for Chelsea
Chelsea’s wage bill is set to be cut, although that does not necessarily mean these savings will all come from the first-team squad, many of whom are under lengthy contracts handed to them by the new management of the club.
Nevertheless, this is the obvious area where players could be cut. A veteran star like Thiago Silva, whose deal is up in 2024, looks particularly vulnerable to not having his deal renewed, while Ian Maatsen is the only other member of the first-team squad whose contract expires next summer.
Players will inevitably need to be sold, though with a sizeable first-team squad, Chelsea can afford to trim Mauricio Pochettino’s side to some degree, particularly with the talent they possess in their youth academy.
