Chelsea's trick was 'whistled'

The Premier League has not approved Chelsea's move to sell its women's team. Photo: Reuters .

Chelsea have raised £198m from the “restructuring of their women’s team”, according to financial reports released earlier this week. The money was recorded as part of the transfer of a subsidiary to the club’s parent company.

Although no exact valuation has been released, experts believe the value of Chelsea Women's could exceed £150 million. Another asset believed to be involved in the deal is Chelsea Women's Kingsmeadow Stadium.

The internal transfer was a key factor in helping Chelsea turn around their financial situation, from a loss of £90m last season to a pre-tax profit of £128m. Previously, Chelsea also sold two hotels located on the Stamford Bridge grounds to the parent company, both owned by billionaires Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.

However, the Blues have yet to receive Premier League approval on how the deal will be valued. Negotiations are ongoing over the key question of whether the women's team deal is valued at fair market value.

By comparison, Europe's most successful women's team Lyon Feminin was sold to an American consortium for just £45m in 2023. Meanwhile, American women's team Angel City was valued at £190m in an auction in September of the same year.

Chelsea women's team is considered the strongest in England.

Chelsea are likely to argue that their women's team is worth hundreds of millions of pounds given their reputation and consistent performance, but the Premier League could demand a downward adjustment to the value of the deal.

Chelsea’s total revenue fell to £468.5m due to the men’s team not playing in the Champions League, but TV revenue increased thanks to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League and reaching the FA Cup semi-finals and League Cup final last season. Operating costs were also cut to offset the fall in revenue, helping the club maintain a stable operating loss compared to the previous year.

On the women’s side, they continued their great success, reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League for the second time in a row and winning the Women’s Super League, which contributed significantly to their TV revenue. Matchday revenue increased to £80.1m thanks to an average attendance of around 40,000 per match.

In addition, "The Blues" commercial revenue increased to 225.3 million pounds thanks to player loans and sideline businesses such as stadium tours and souvenir sales.

Thanks to profits from player sales (£152.5m) and subsidiary transfers (£198.7m), Chelsea recorded a post-tax profit of £129.6m - a surprising financial result that will certainly be "scrutinised" in the coming time.

The clubs that made the most money from player sales Chelsea led the way in terms of player sales revenue over the past 10 seasons with 1.3 billion euros. Benfica and Monaco followed thanks to big deals like Félix and Mbappé.

Source: https://znews.vn/chieu-tro-cua-chelsea-bi-tuyt-coi-post1542865.html