Chelsea have attempted to sell their own Cobham training ground to themselves in a bid to circumnavigate the Premier League‘s Profit and Sustainability rules (PSR), a former football finance advisor has claimed.
The Blues’ financial challenges have been laid bare in recent weeks after it was recently revealed they posted the most severe operating losses of any Premier League club in history last season.
Their operating loss was a staggering £249million, almost £100m more than their nearest rival, Leicester, who recorded a £152m deficit.
With Chelsea also boasting the most expensive squad, valued at £1.1billion, it has seen the club sell a hotel to BlueCo – the consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake who bought the club in May 2022 – for £76.3m in a bid to stay within the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
And now it appears the west London club have made another attempt to comply with the Premier League’s financial rules by selling their training ground to themselves, according to Manchester City‘s former financial advisor Stefan Borson.
Reports claimed Chelsea tried selling their own Cobham training ground to themselves
Former football finance advisor Stefan Borson made the claims on social media on Sunday
Chelsea are ‘confident’ they don’t need to make sales to satisfy PSR requirements this season
Borson took to X to post an application enquiry made by the club in early February, days after the transfer window shut, before asking the question whether Chelsea had in fact tried to sell – or have actually sold – their Cobham training ground to themselves.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported on Peacock on Sunday that Chelsea are ‘confident’ that they do not need to make any further sales before the June 30 deadline to keep in line with PSR rules for the 2023-24 campaign.
Ornstein also reported that the Blues will need to make sales to keep in line with PSR for the 2024-25 season but that cut off will be next summer.
This led to Borson questioning whether the training ground potentially being sold in-house was linked.
Along with a screenshot of the application enquiry, Borson said: ‘Is this why Chelsea have told [David] Ornstein they no longer need to sell before 30 June 2024?
‘Chelsea have now attempted to sell (or have actually sold) their Cobham Training Ground to themselves (ie intra-group).
‘Their lawyers applied to register this dealing in early February (after the window…