Chelsea could land record-breaking points deduction - Keith Wyness

James holds a degree in Sports Journalism and Communications (MA) from the Real Madrid Graduate School. He has experience working for a number of local news outlets as well as the Sunday Mirror and Real Madrid TV. James is from Scunthorpe and has an affinity with Scunthorpe United, but is also a huge West Ham supporter and an expert on all things to do with the Hammers. He started working for Breaking Media in July 2023, initially writing on the Club Sites, where he specialised in West Ham content, before moving to Football Insider – where he is now an expert in football finance, speaking regularly with Stefan Borson and Keith Wyness to generate high-quality content in all things related to finance in the Premier League, Football League, and Scottish Premiership.

Published on:

18 Jul 2024, 1:30 am

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted Chelsea could face a record-breaking 12-point deduction if they are found to have breached the profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – admitted there will be "serious" consequences for Chelsea if they have breached the spending rules after Everton and Nottingham Forest were both docked points last season.

The west Londoners exploited a loophole last year by selling two Stamford Bridge hotels to a sister company for a total of £76.5million to offset their major losses.

Chelsea posted a loss of £90million in the 2022-23 financial year alone, with current Premier League rules stating top-flight clubs can lose a maximum of £105million over a rolling three-year period.

Finance expert Stefan Borson has now revealed the London giants sold their women’s team to parent company BlueCo on 28 June to potentially circumnavigate the PSR rules again.

Chelsea could land points deduction if legal battle unsuccessful

Wyness suggested it will come down to the cleverness of the barristers involved as to whether Chelsea’s off-field deals are given the necessary approval to help them avoid a potential PSR breach.

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “We are looking at a serious points deduction.

“In this case, we could possibly be looking at up to 12. There has certainly been no cooperation as far as I can see.

“There was a big rush of spending. We can all remember Graham Potter coming in and they were buying everybody from Brighton.

“Getting the loopholes approved is down to really clever dancing on the head of a pin language with the barristers.

(Credit: Getty Images)

“There may be a way through it. I’m not saying they won’t be successful, but it doesn’t feel right gut-wise in terms of them getting away with this.

“We will see how this develops, but there could be a serious sanction.

“It will all depend on the cleverness of the silks, which is an unfortunate part of football today.”

In other news, winger could leave Chelsea as talks open over deal.

For more Chelsea news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.

Chelsea FC