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The company that owns Chelsea Football Club made a net loss of more than £650mn after it bought the club for £2.5bn from sanctioned oligarch Roman Abramovich in May 2022.
Blueco 22, an entity controlled by private equity firm Clearlake Capital and investors including Todd Boehly, bought Chelsea following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The proceeds of the deal were earmarked for charity but remain frozen in a bank account because of a dispute about where and how the money should be spent.
According to accounts published at UK Companies House, Blueco 22 made a net loss of £653mn in the 16 months to the end of June last year after significant spending by Chelsea on new players. Its investment in the men’s squad has not yet paid off on the pitch however.
Boehly had said team morale was high ahead of the season but the Premier League side is 11th in the table and faces another campaign without qualification to the lucrative Uefa Champions League.
Blueco’s revenue was £534mn in the period, largely from Chelsea’s commercial, broadcasting and match-day income. Operating expenses, including staff costs, were more than £1.1bn.
The club’s pre-tax loss fell to £90mn in the 12 months to June 30 last year, from £121mn in the previous season, the accounts showed, with revenues increasing by £31mn to £512mn.
“Despite the loss in the year and the continued fallout from the sanctions placed on the club in the prior year, the club continues to comply with Uefa and Premier League financial regulations,” Chelsea said.
The men’s team has performed poorly on the pitch despite hefty spending on players such as Argentine World Cup winner Enzo Fernández, Wesley Fofana and Ukrainian Mykhaylo Mudryk. The women’s team won the Women’s Super League and the Women’s FA Cup.
Since the end of the period covered by the accounts, Blueco has spent £454mn on 22 players and sold 10 for £48mn.
Standard practice in football is to acquire players and “amortise” or divide the transfer fee over the length of their contract. The longer the contract, the smaller the cost each year.
Chelsea has attracted scrutiny from rivals and football authorities for offering long contracts that enable the club to spread costs out as much as possible.
The new owners initially replaced Thomas Tuchel, the coach who led the club to Champions League victory in 2021. Graham Potter was brought in from Brighton & Hove Albion, but stayed for less than a season and was then replaced by former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur coach Mauricio Pochettino.
The accounts also show that Blueco22 paid an initial €76mn for French football club RC Strasbourg in June last year, as the owners expanded their investments in football.
