Stefan Borson: Chelsea's wage bill 'out of control' after another mega deal completed
Todd Boehly has failed to get Chelsea's wages under control, only adding further strains to the club's business model.
That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that the massive spending on players has compounded having no front-of-shirt sponsor.
Much like Sunderland and Nottingham Forest, the Blues are still on the search for a major sponsorship ahead of 2026-27, having not had a long-term deal since Three in 2023.
Chelsea have since struck short-term deals with Infinite Athletic, DAMAC Properties and IFS, but there is a serious concern about a lack of funds from a sponsor next season.
Of course, finances have been a huge talking point in West London, and even more so after the £117million deal for Morgan Rogers this summer.
Xabi Alonso is unlikely to be done there, but even with several exits being expected at Stamford Bridge, Borson can't help but criticise the business model.
'It's disappointing, what they've done'
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson revealed his disappointment at the ongoings in West London, with more costs to follow huge transfer fees.
"Commercially, it's disappointing, what they've done. They've done okay considering they've got no principal front-of-shirt sponsor," he said.
"But there's a limit to what else they can do until they can get that major sponsor on board. It's capped out at the £200m-mark. So they don't have many levers to play with from a business perspective.
"Then you look at costs. Well, the wage bill has historically been very high. They keep talking about bringing it down.
"But if you keep bringing in players in the way that they they do, that kind of a strategy is to probably over-purchase and then to sell where you can.
"That's not going to keep your wage bill under control. It's also going to give you a big bill for agent fees.
"So if you've got loads and loads of transactions in and out, even if they're fringe players, all of those deals have lots and lots of ancillary costs.
"It's agent fees, salaries, all these sorts of things, solidarity costs. So it's an expensive business buying and selling footballers."
Who else could Chelsea sign this summer?
Emanuel Emegha was actually the first arrival at Chelsea this summer, being followed by Marco Palestra, Geovany Quenda, and then Rogers.
Maxence Lacroix is likely to be the next signing announced in West London, joining from Crystal Palace in a £52m deal.
There is also interested in free agent John Stones and Bournemouth's Alex Scott, who the Blues have already had a £64m offer rejected for.
Alonso and his staff show no signs of slowing down in the transfer market, but that will only increase the problems off the pitch, even with impending departures.