Kieran Maguire stunned by Chelsea news – ‘it’s only exceeded by Man City’
The £404million wage bill paid by Chelsea is the second highest in Premier League history behind only Manchester City.
That is from finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about Chelsea’s wage control and recruitment strategy.
As per Deloitte’s 2024 Money Football League, Chelsea ranked ninth in world football in terms of revenue with £512million generated in 2023.
The report also reveals that 79 percent of Chelsea’s revenue was spent on their wage bill – exceeding Uefa’s recommended limit of 70 percent.
Only Man City recorded a higher wage bill than the £404million paid out by the Blues last year.
Chelsea’s increase in wages can be attributed to their recent transfer business, with over £1billion spent under new owner Todd Boehly.
Maguire was shocked by Chelsea’s wage bill and believes the Blues are also set to owe a huge amount of money in amortisation costs.
“What has surprised me is that Chelsea’s £404million wage bill – if accurate – will be the second highest wage bill in the history of the Premier League,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“It is only exceeded by Manchester City’s wage bill last year.
“But Manchester City won a raft of trophies while Chelsea didn’t.
“So we await with interest to see the implications of Chelsea’s recruitment policy.
“They are good at selling players, which will help.
“Also, it has to be remembered that under the UEFA rules they only count player and management wages.
“So their wage-to-revenue ratio is 79 percent but that is before subtracting other staff.
“We’ve seen other clubs in worse positions such as Newcastle and Everton, but what will be interesting is Chelsea’s amortisation costs.“
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