Chelsea transfer plans at risk as Premier League clubs ponder amortisation cap

Chelsea’s transfer strategy is at risk of being undermined with Premier League shareholders set to discuss capping amortisation at five years.

Contract amortisation – an accounting practice of gradually writing off the initial cost of a player over the course of their contract – will be on the agenda when clubs meet on Tuesday and there is a push for the Premier League to fall in line with Uefa on the issue.

There is a belief that the move, backed by some members of theig big six, will be voted through but it is likely to face opposition from Chelsea, whose owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, have looked to spread out the cost of transfers across up to eight years. A vote is not guaranteed on Tuesday and could be delayed until a future meeting. A motion needs the backing of 14 clubs to be passed.

A worry for Chelsea will be a successful vote ending with the move being backdated to last summer. The club spent more than £400m on signings then and broke the British transfer record when they bought Moisés Caicedo from Brighton for £115m.

Boehly and Clearlake have handed out eight-year deals since buying Chelsea from Roman Abramovich. That has allowed them to spread payments for transfers over a long period, which helps from a financial fair play perspective. But Uefa closed the loophole last summer, with clubs restricted to amortising deals over five years under its rules.

It remains possible to hand out longer deals but Chelsea would be expected to adjust amortisation if they were in European competition.

The move was not backdated by Uefa. Chelsea subsequently bought Caicedo, giving the midfielder an eight-year deal. The league’s profit and sustainability rules permit clubs to make a loss of £105m over a three-year period, with adjustments made for Covid.

Chelsea posted a loss of £121m in their most recent accounts and are being investigated by the league and the FA after reporting that “incomplete financial information” had been submitted during Abramovich’s tenure. Uefa has fined the club £8.6m over the admission.