Chelsea invited to join £1bn project John Terry is excited about
After two and a half years of massive spending under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, Chelsea is operating on thin financial ice.
The £1.5bn the Blues have spent under their current owners is roughly the same as what Manchester United have spent since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down in 2013.
The gamble by Boel and Clearlake, who are battling for control of Chelsea, is that the young players they are recruiting will pay big dividends in the future.
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This, coupled with an eccentric approach to the club’s commercial arm and grand plans to expand or redevelop Stamford Bridge, appears to be the club’s owner’s long-term strategy for financial success.
But the legacy of their unprecedented spending, not to mention the failure to secure a major sponsorship deal for Chelsea, is uneasiness over the PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules) in the here and now.
On the face of it, Chelsea are far, far in excess of the £105m financial losses the Premier League allows over a three-year period, not to mention the 80 per cent cap UEFA imposes on a team’s turnover-to-expense ratio.
Allowable spending, PSR avoidance and intra-company deals such as the one that saw the Chelsea Women’s team sold to another BlueCo-owned business mean Chelsea are well placed to avoid breaches.
At least in public.
In reality, the accounts available to us and the club’s projected revenues for the 2023-24 season mean that margins are extremely thin and Chelsea need every extra penny of income they can get.
FIFA comes to the rescue, providing rare good news related to the Club World Cup.
Chelsea receive major commercial news from FIFA
As champions for the first time in 2022, Chelsea will represent the Premier League alongside Man City in a new and expanded Club World Cup next summer.
The US tournament will feature 32 teams in a format similar to the international World Cup, with FIFA hoping to generate more than £1bn in revenue.
However, world football’s governing bodies have faced a number of challenges in trying to stage the tournament.
Chief among these is the ongoing search for a TV deal. The only offer FIFA has received so far has come from Apple, which has offered £750 million. FIFA had originally wanted £4 billion.
In second place is the lack of official sponsors – until now.
With just seven months to go until the controversial tournament kicks off, FIFA has confirmed that Hisense will become the first official partner of the Club World Cup.
The value of the deal was not announced, but FIFA said:
“This agreement paves the way for further sponsorship deals for FIFA’s new flagship club competition, which will be announced in the coming weeks.”
Club World Cup gets John Terry’s nod
Chelsea’s third-most capped and most decorated player, John Terry, failed to represent the Blues at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup.
Chelsea qualified for the tournament by winning the Champions League last season.
Then, the Blues, led by Rafael Benitez, lost in the final in Yokohama (Japan) to Corinthians, and it was the last time the trophy was won by a non-European team.
At the FIFAe Next Gen event in Liverpool in September, Terry – who is currently an academy coach at Cobham – spoke of his regret at failing to win the Club World Cup and how he can’t wait to see Chelsea compete in the summer.
He said:
“I’m really happy that Chelsea will be there and taking part . As a football club, we’re happy to be there. We’ll bring our best players, our best squad and give them every opportunity because that’s what the fans want to see.”
“Winning the league or the UEFA Champions League is great, but the FIFA Club World Cup is a big test against everyone in the world from different countries, different nationalities and different players.”
“I would love to win it and add the trophy to my collection. Unfortunately, I’m a bit old now – I missed that chance, but it’s still great to see so many top teams participating in the tournament.”
“I missed it as a player through injury and I remember watching the game at the Chelsea training ground on a massage table. It’s one of those moments I’ll never forget. I thought, ‘This might be my only chance’ and it was. It’s still in the back of my mind.”
“At these big tournaments you get one chance, and if you’re lucky you get two – if you’re Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi it happens a lot – but for the average player those chances don’t come around very often and I think it’s important to take advantage of those opportunities.”
“As a player I’ve been asked a couple of times: ‘Do you really care about the FIFA Club World Cup?’
” Of course it does. Our football club is ready to go there and will strive to win it.”
“There will be some really top teams there and from a player’s point of view, 100%, that’s important. So again, we’re really happy to be involved and for Chelsea it’s an opportunity to win another trophy.”
“You will see different teams playing in different formations. The tournament will be a test for us against different managers and in different parts of the world who see the game differently.”
“It’s really good to test yourself because in the Premier League you know what you’re up against, you do your research, you know the players like the back of your hand.
“It’s a tournament where you go out on the pitch and it’s a bit of an open book. So it’s interesting for everyone to watch these games.”
Chelsea invited to join £1bn project John Terry is excited about
