The €238 million deal that saved Chelsea

Tom Weber

Updated: 1 Apr 2025 11:29 BST
3 min read

Enzo Maresca, Todd Boehly, Chelsea — © IMAGO

Chelsea avoided breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules by essentially selling their women's team to themselves.

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On Monday evening, the Blues revealed on their website that they made a net profit of €155 million for the 2023/24 season despite revenues falling from €613m to €560m.

They accomplished this by raising a whopping €238m from selling Chelsea Women and other subsidiaries from Chelsea FC Holdings to parent company BlueCo.

This helped the men's team avoid falling foul of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules, although as The Times points out, Chelsea are likely to have breached UEFA's spending rules.

This is because UEFA does not allow clubs to register the income from transactions between sister companies. The Premier League attempted to implement similar rules and to close the currently existing loophole, but the motion was voted down by the division's clubs.

Chelsea saved by women's team

Chelsea FC Holdings transferred Chelsea Women to BlueCo just two days before last summer's June 30 deadline, so they were likely well aware that the club would have breached PSR rules without the massive income generated from this sale.

Indeed, the early stages of last summer were rife with questionable deals as Premier League clubs scrambled to balance the books. Omari Kellyman inadvertently became the face of the dodgy PSR dealings when Chelsea signed him from Aston Villa for a whopping €22.5m.

© IMAGO - Chelsea owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali

The 19-year-old had only made six senior appearances for Villa, but he raised valuable 'pure profit' for the club. In turn, Villa helped Chelsea out by signing Ian Maatsen for a staggering €44.5m, while they also considered a move for Conor Gallagher. Kellyman has yet to play for Chelsea.

With Chelsea Women rated at north of €180m, they are the second most valuable women's club in world football after Angel City in the NWSL. Chelsea Women shattered the world transfer record in January when they signed US international Naomi Girma for €1.05m.

The club assert that the move from Chelsea FC Holdings to BlueCo "will ensure CFCW has dedicated resources, management and commercial leadership solely focused on the growth and success of the women’s team.”