Keith Wyness Exclusive: Chelsea to be banned from signing players after ‘guilty’ verdict
Chelsea could be handed a transfer embargo as well as a massive fine after admitting to breaking financial regulations.
The Blues have been notorious heavy spenders since the takeover of Roman Abramovich in 2004, and Todd Boehly has carried on the trend during his time at the helm.
However, when Boehly bought the club back in 2022, a number of financial discrepancies were found, with the West London side reporting themselves to the Premier League, UEFA, and the FA.
Now, Chelsea have been charged by the FA with 74 alleged rule breaches relating to payments to agents between 2009 and 2022 when Abramovich was in charge.
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 that Enzo Maresca’s side could be hit with a transfer ban as a result.
Chelsea face £20m fine and transfer embargo
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that as well as a transfer embargo, Chelsea will face a sizeable fine of around £20million.
It is believed that the Blues’ admission of guilt could see the punishment reduced by 30 to 40 per cent, compared with if they had been caught hiding the discrepancies.
Wyness added that if a transfer embargo is the only sporting sanction placed on Chelsea, then it is a “bit of a joke”, as the West London side already have so many players stocked up.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Having looked at it all now and seen the sort of tone that’s coming out from the FA, as well as looking at past cases that are similar to this, it looks to me that because they admitted guilt early, that’s going to go in their favor.
“We’ve seen in some of the recent decisions, cooperation and admission of guilt have been looked at well, and maybe given a 30 to 40 per cent reduction in the penalty.
“I think it’s a difficult one because really this did give them a sporting benefit in terms of the players and managers they were able to keep, so it really should be a sporting sanction, but I think that the authorities are going to look a bit more leniently on this.
“Where I think it’s going to end up is a pretty decent-sized fine, depending on what the scale is of these expenditures. There may well be a transfer embargo as well, and that will be the sporting sanction that I think will be imposed on them.
“It is a bit of a joke really, a transfer embargo for Chelsea who’ve been so active and have got enough players stocked up in the cupboard. I don’t think that one or two transfer windows would really hurt them. They might be quite relieved.
“Anyway, that’s where I think they’ll end up. It will be a pretty sizable fine, I think we could be looking at the £15m to £20m mark.”
Chelsea join race for Premier League star
Meanwhile, Chelsea are reportedly the latest Premier League club to join the race to sign Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi on a free transfer next summer.
That is according to former Man United and Blackburn chief scout Mick Brown, who claims that Maresca sees the 25-year-old as an upgrade on his current options.
The centre-back left Stamford Bridge to join Crystal Palace for just £18million in 2021, and has since established himself as their club captain and a regular starter for England.
After Guehi’s deadline day move to Liverpool collapsed, he is expected to be available on a free transfer next summer, placing some of Europe’s biggest clubs on alert.
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