Kieran Maguire rubbishes Todd Boehly FFP claim amid ‘£767m’ Chelsea reveal
Chelsea can keep pace with their rivals in the transfer market despite smaller revenues because of their academy – the lucrative youth setup has helped them generate £767million in player sales in the last six years alone.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the Blues’ spending power under new owner Todd Boehly.
Boehly, who has since installed himself as chairman, completed a £4.25billion takeover of Chelsea last month (28 May).
He succeeds Roman Abramovich, whose 20-year premiership at Stanford Bridge was marked by an aggressive recruitment policy.
But as quoted by ESPN last Friday (17 June), Boehly admitted that FFP means Chelsea will no longer be able to sign players “at any price”.
Maguire, however, insists the youth setup at Cobham will see the West London clubs match the spending power of the likes of both Manchester clubs and Liverpool.
“They won’t necessarily have to spend less in the transfer market than their rivals,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“The reason for that is that they have been very successful in terms of player sales. Over the course of the last six years, they have had player sales of £767m.
“They have been the most successful Premier League club with regards to player trading. They have historically plugged the revenue gap from having a smaller stadium through the player trading route.
“They have got the biggest overall academy setup in the country. They effectively farm academy talent and monetise it that way.”
Chelsea’s academy has produced the likes of Mason Mount, Reece James and Tammy Abraham in recent years.
Thomas Tuchel gave 9,522 minutes to Cobham graduates last season, more than any other Premier League side.
In other news, Liverpool set sights on surprise Timo Werner move.