The bidders who are currently competing to be the buyer who takes Chelsea out of Roman Abramovich have plenty to worry about already. The stadium, the debt, the asking price – there’s a lot to think about.
And there are issues on the football side too, especially with the inflated wage bill. It’s a sticky situation, and The Telegraph‘s Matt Law lays it out pretty plainly.
As he notes, Chelsea have plenty of good players on good value contracts. The issue is the swathe of expensive signings signed to long deals, not earning their keep – or even playing regularly in some cases.
Kepa, Timo Werner, Romelu Lukaku and even Callum Hudson-Odoi are on inflated wages, which in turn makes them harder to sell. Meanwhile players like Mason Mount, Reece James and Edouard Mendy are all relatively underpaid – so they will expect a raise soon.
It’s a problem that’s a lot easier to solve if you’re a multibillionaire oligarch – but maybe not if your eyes are on the bottom line.
