Former Newcastle target Mykhalio Mudryk completed his £88.5m move to Chelsea over the weekend, but it seems their January business is anything but over.
Since then, it’s emerged that PSV winger Noni Madueke is also on his way to Stamford Bridge, with his £29m arrival set to take their spending to just shy of £500m since the summer.
In addition, The Athletic have revealed that they’ve also lodged a £55m bid for Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo – a player Newcastle have ‘watched extensively’ – so it’s clear Todd Boehly has no intention of putting away his wallet anytime soon.
Newcastle were accused of ‘buying safety’ when £95m was spent in our first transfer window under new owners. Chelsea have spent almost five times that in six months, yet they sit 10th – closer to the relegation zone than Man City in second – and appear to have none of the Financial Fair Play worries currently restricting our spending based on the way Boehly continues to splash the cash.
We’ve heard Roman Abramovich cleared their debt just before he sold up and appreciate that Chelsea have been pulling in superior figures from a commercial perspective – an area Mike Ashley totally neglected on Tyneside. However, it seems our top four rivals are finding loopholes in what’s proving to be a pretty flawed FFP system. It doesn’t add up.
They’re handing out unprecedented eight-year deals to ‘spread out the costs’ of their mega-money moves. They could rack up a quarter of a billion bill on January transfer fees alone should Caicedo become the latest player to sign and their wage bill must be a sight for sore eyes; something FFP is meant to take into consideration.
They’ve also had some abysmal trading periods where huge losses must’ve been filed, selling flops like Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Alvaro Morata for a fraction of the £200m paid for all three.
When Saudi investment arrived on Tyneside, we were told the days of ‘Man City style’ takeovers were over. Don’t get me wrong, our ambitious yet measured approach has been brilliant to watch and has worked wonders so far – just look at the league table. But I do question whether FFP regulations really are fit for purpose when you see Chelsea spending like a bored 14-year-old who has been let loose on the new FIFA.
Here’s a reminder of the deals they’ve secured since the summer:
- Wesley Fofana: £71m
- Marc Cucurella: £58m
- Raheem Sterling: £50m
- Kalidou Kouliably: £34m
- Benoit Badiashile: £34m
- Carney Chukwuemeka: £16m
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: £11m
- David Fofana: £11m
- Andrey Santos: £11m
- Joao Felix: £10m (loan)
- Gabriel Slonina: £8m
- Denis Zakaria: £4m (loan)
- Mykhailo Mudryk: £88m
- Christopher Nkunku: £63m (will arrive this summer)
- Noni Madueke: £29m
So, while Chelsea supporters check Newcastle’s live scores in hope we’ll slip up, us Toon fans would love to know how FFP restrictions are already limiting our recruitment drive while others spend to their heart’s content.
It’s called corruption- premier league even more corruptthat FIFA
PHILIP RENNER(Quote)
If this situation doesn’t prove that the FA and the PL are in bed together then nothing will.
They’re not even trying to hide the corruption now.
It stinks to high heaven.
Peter Henderson.(Quote)
the rules are the same for all so Newcastle are just bad businessmen
Tel(Quote)
Chelsea have spent half a billion in six months and sit 10th.
Newcastle have spent less than half of that over 18 months and sit 3rd.
I think I know who’s doing the ‘bad business’ here…
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
You just knew the Chelsea fan jumping to their defence would be called Tel 😂😂😂
Sharpy17(Quote)
If the £500m is all on 8yr contracts then only £63m applies to this year. However they have prespent £63m for each of the following years. If they sell a player then that entire sale fee is placed in the current year. So selling a player for £65m this year puts them in the black under FFP rules. The risk is that a player is not good enough and spends 8yrs being paid for nowt as no one else will want them.
PremAndUp(Quote)
FFP…
..
For Newcastle is Financial Fair Play, and for Chelsea it is Fucking Fair Play
Nathan(Quote)
Even if the cost of players is spread over a number of years (8 in some cases) the wages still have to be paid to the player and I seriously doubt if anyone they sign will be on less than 400 – 500k a week, probably more. That’s a lot to pay if the player doesn’t quite fit in and spends 7 of the 8 years either on the bench or worse, sat at home!! Nobody will want to pay anywhere near what Chelsea have paid for some of these players. I really don’t understand how they get away with it as the salaries are meant to be taken into account under FFP
Johnno(Quote)
Must be a typo of Del, surely!
Newkie(Quote)