Ciaran Morrison

Sun 29 March 2026 17:51, UK

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Chelsea’s fine and suspended transfer ban over making £47million in secret payments only proves that the Premier League are biased against smaller clubs and “frightened” of elite club firepower.

That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, with the Blues avoiding a sporting penalty over the payments to unregistered agents and third-parties.

The payments occurred over transfers between 2011 and 2018 in the Roman Abramovich era, when Chelsea won two Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy.

Everton and Nottingham Forest were both deducted points by the Premier League for breaching financial rules in 2023 and 2024, and both clubs may take legal action against the organisation following Chelsea’s ruling.

Chelsea accepted the charges, and Man City may take note of the verdict as they await the final decision on their case for allegedly breaching financial rules between 2009 and 2018.

Keith Wyness has ‘question mark’ over Chelsea verdict

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes Chelsea’s punishment only “feeds the fire” about big club bias.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks that Chelsea’s outcome was ultimately “disappointing.”

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I think that it does certainly feed the fire about, you know, one rule for the big clubs and one for the smaller ones.

“And perhaps one rule for the clubs that have unlimited firepower in the legal battle that the Premier League can be frightened of, and another rule for those clubs that will not have exhaustible finances to go and fight legal battles.

“So that’s, to me, where it sort of comes down to. And it’s disappointing. The big point is it a de-escalation? We’ve got to have a question mark about that.”

Chelsea risk losing Enzo Fernandez

Wyness also told Football Insider that Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez could leave the club due to the current environment under BlueCo’s ownership.

Fernandez has hit out at the clubs decision to sack manager Enzo Maresca earlier in the season, whilst Wyness feels that the London side are being poorly run.

The midfielder faces an uncertain future under Liam Rosenior, and Chelsea could be forced to sell players in the summer following the £355m pre-tax loss recorded in their latest financial accounts.