The Times: Chelsea needs to sell 60 million pounds' worth of players before they can register new ones in the Champions League | UEFA | Arsenal | Chelsea Team

Live Sports News: On July 8th, The Times published an article reporting on the financial compliance status of Chelsea. 

Chelsea is set to win a huge sum of money at the Club World Cup. Just the quarter-final victory over Parma alone is worth 15.6 million pounds. The total revenue from the tournament has now reached nearly 60 million pounds. This unexpected windfall has come at the right time. Last week, UEFA handed Chelsea the largest penalty in its history (a 27 million pound unconditional fine, plus a potential additional 51.8 million pounds in penalties), as part of the settlement agreement for violating financial regulations. 

But what could potentially have a significant impact on Chelsea is not the fine, but the sports sanctions that both Chelsea and Aston Villa are facing together. This has introduced subtle uncertainties into the remaining transfer window this summer and may intensify the club's pressure to sell players. Unless there is a surplus in the transfer income and expenditure on the A list, Chelsea will not be able to sign new players for the Champions League next season. This rule, which lasts for at least two seasons, means that any additional registered player's expenses must be offset by the income from selling players. The World Cup Cup bonus is of no help in this regard. 

Chelsea still has a large number of players yet to be registered. Besides the new signings Delpo, João Pedro and Gittens, Estevan, Esugho, Andre Santos, Mamadou Sall and Mike Pendes (if not on loan) might also need to be registered. On Friday, Marresca said he had not paid attention to this matter, but the reality is far from being so simple. 

The key issue is that Chelsea's A-list is based on the Europa League knockout round list submitted in February this year. This means that players like Ravia and Wesley Forfeni, who were not included, also need to re-register. The registration cost for new signings includes salary and amortization of transfer fees. Taking Drapp's 30 million pounds (annual amortization of 600,000 pounds over a five-year contract) as an example, without considering salary, the cost of registering all these players has exceeded 60 million pounds. UEFA has not recognized the amortization method for contracts exceeding five years since 2023. 

Fortunately, the sale of players is not limited to those on the A-list from the previous season. Players like Felix, Sterling, Chilwell, Renato Viga and Disasi, who were not selected for the Club World Cup squad and will return to the Cobham training base on Monday, can help improve the balance of income and expenditure. As long as they are sold before the registration deadline on September 2nd, the income received will be recognized. Only if the total income and expenditure remains negative after the final list is submitted will a registration ban be triggered. 

However, Chelsea is well aware of the difficulty in reducing redundant staff. The future of Enkunku is uncertain and he might seek a new club this summer. Although Madueke had an outstanding performance last season and helped the team qualify for the Champions League, the club will not prevent him from leaving in response to Arsenal's interest. Another newly-crowned England international, Chaloba, though highly praised by the coach, still has the possibility of leaving. 

The internal circle of Chelsea is optimistic about avoiding the penalty impact. They emphasize that unless the players themselves request to leave, there is no need to force the sale of players like Madueke. They are also confident about the registration for the Champions League. In fact, they have not ruled out continuing to make new signings. The key target is Kudus from West Ham. If Madueke leaves, the probability of Kudus joining will significantly increase. However, the prerequisite for all these signings is to first complete the sale of the players.