Finance expert details 'hidden' cause for Chelsea's lack of January transfer activity

Chelsea are hoping to record a strong second half of the season following their recent managerial change. 

Enzo Maresca has left Chelsea after his position was deemed untenable following disagreements behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca has been replaced by Liam Rosenior, who joined the Blues from Ligue 1 side Strasbourg last week.

Chelsea’s hierarchy has a decision to make over whether to back Rosenior in the ongoing January transfer window.

The London giants have spent heavily since BlueCo, the club’s ownership group spearheaded by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, took over at Stamford Bridge in May 2022. 

Why Chelsea have to be ‘mindful’ about their January spending

Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Chelsea are “restrained” by their settlement agreed with Uefa.

Chelsea were fined £26.7million by the governing body last summer for breaching its financial rules, while they will receive a further £51.2m penalty if they don’t comply with the regulations in the next four years. 

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about Chelsea’s spending power, Borson said: “I think Chelsea are probably quite restrained. There might be something to spend, but they’ve got to be mindful that they are in a Uefa settlement period.

“They do have to watch the situation with squad cost control because, of course, when squad cost ratios comes in next season, the hotel and the women’s sales, they go out the window in terms of being relevant. 

“They have sold so many young player assets that you don’t know how many they’ve got left where they can make a profit.” 

Why two Chelsea stars could restrict the club’s spending

Borson suggested Chelsea are facing potential losses on Raheem Sterling, who is yet to agree a move away from Stamford Bridge, and Mykhailo Mudryk following the charges he’s facing for violating the FA’s anti-doping rules.

“They’ve got some hidden losses on some of their players,” said Borson.

“Raheem Sterling is still, for example, a player that they’re going to have to crystallise a loss on if they were to sell him or pay him off, impair the asset. They’ve also got the issue with Mudryk, which is a big impairment potentially. 

“I think they’ll be quite restrained and the squad’s quite big anyway. Maybe they could sign one player.

“Maybe they could do a bit of trading. I don’t know, maybe they can shift one of the young players somewhere, take a profit and reinvest it. But I’d expect them to be quite quiet in January.”

Chelsea beat Charlton Athletic 5-1 in Rosenior’s first game in charge of the club, helping secure their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

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