‘Todd Boehly has been on another Brighton shopping trip – Chelsea pull off deal’
Chelsea’s participation in the Club World Cup has given them a major advantage over the rest of the Premier League.
The Blues will face Brazilian side Fluminense in the semi-finals of the competition on Tuesday (8 June), with a victory seeing them take on either Real Madrid or PSG in the final.
Enzo Maresca’s side could earn north of £100million if they win the tournament, and the West London side have already been spending heavily this summer.
In the last week, Chelsea have added both Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens to their ranks, for £60m and £55m respectively.
However, 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 the recent purchases would not have made a dent in the Blues’ transfer budget.
‘Brighton cash till ringing’ as Chelsea agree another signing
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that Chelsea have already earned back the majority of their transfer outlay this summer due to the Club World Cup prize money.
Before the start of the competition, Liam Delap made the switch to Stamford Bridge, as well as Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr.
Wyness added that Chelsea have made the most of their “unfair advantage” over their Premier League rivals.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Look at what Chelsea are doing in the Club World Cup, and really all the money that they’ve spent so far has already been paid for just from the prize money that they’ve earned in America.
“This is one of the problems with the Club World Cup, it’s skewed in one club’s favour considerably. With so few clubs from the Premier League having the chance to get in there, it’s made it an unfair advantage.
“The spending that they’ve already done almost hasn’t counted because of this extra prize money, but I do still expect them to go further.
“You’ve seen Todd Boehly doing his customary shopping trip down to Brighton and picking up another player. Brighton are loving it. Ker-ching, the cash till goes again in Brighton.”
‘Chelsea plan to accept Josh Acheampong offer’
Meanwhile, Chelsea are reportedly planning to accept offers for young defender Josh Acheampong in the summer transfer window amid growing interest.
That is according to former Man United and Blackburn chief scout Mick Brown, who claims that the 19-year-old is not expected to break into the first team under Maresca.
As a result, they will be prepared to entertain offers for his permanent departure despite having agreed a new contract to extend his stay until 2029 just seven months ago.
Tottenham are among the clubs eyeing Acheampong while Newcastle are also believed to be keeping tabs on the highly-rated Cobham graduate.
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