PREMIER LEAGUE clubs have voted to limit the period over transfer fees can be paid regardless of how long a player’s contract is.
The decision was made following a vote at a virtual shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday.
Chelsea have spent £1bn in transfers under Todd BoehlyRex
A statement read: “Premier League Shareholders today agreed to amend the rule on amortisation of player registration costs to bring in line with UEFA’s regulations.
“Going forward, a five-year maximum will apply to all new or extended player contracts.
“Clubs also approved a rule amendment to enable the Premier League Board, in circumstances where a Club owes a transfer debt to another Premier League or EFL Club, to stop the Club registering more players until the outstanding payment has been made.
“The Board can also have the option to deduct the amount from the Club’s entitlement to the League’s central funds.”
Amazingly, according to The Athletic, Chelsea were one of the clubs to vote for the rule change to leave fans stunned.
One said: “Why is Chelsea in favour of that.”
Another added: “Exploited the system then stopped the other teams from copying.”
One joked: “Take advantage of the loophole and then vote against it. Todd Boehly Masterclass.”
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The rule change will not be backdated to include transfers that have already happened and contracts that were already signed.
Beforehand, clubs could spread the cost of a transfer fee over the full length of any contract.
It saw sides – like Chelsea – sign players on long contracts and spread the cost over a longer period to help balance books.
For example, a player signed for £60million on a six-year contract would cost a team £10m per year in their accounts.
Chelsea took advantage by signing Mykhailo Mudryk for £88m on an eight-and-a-half-year deal in January.
It was the longest contract in Premier League history and the fee will be recorded at around £10m a year for Uefa’s FFP calculations.
Enzo Fernandez also signed the same deal until 2031 after his then-club record £106m winter move from Benfica.
Uefa – which has a separate set of financial regulations to the Premier League – moved to close this loophole in the summer.
It set a five-year limit on the amortisation of transfer fees, regardless of contract length, but this was also not backdated.
Under billionaire American owner Todd Boehly, Chelsea have spent over £1BILLION on transfer and loan fees.
And this summer they smashed the Premier League transfer record by signing Moises Caceido for £115m from Brighton on an eight-year deal.