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LONDON. — Chelsea are having a transfer window that no other Premier League side have managed before.
The west Londoners have broke the bank this summer, with their spending currently at around £231 million — more than any other English top-flight team in a single window — and there could even be more players coming in.
The timing of this free-spending spree by Frank Lampard’s Blues is rather peculiar — as the coronavirus pandemic means that the majority of clubs are strapped for cash, with expensive transfer activity expected to be small this year.
With the help of football business account SwissRamble, Sportsmail takes a look at how Roman Abramovich’s Blues have managed to stump up all this cash during this window…
One area where Chelsea have helped themselves over the past six years is through generating money through player sales.
There is no hiding the fact that the Blues have spent big over the years. In fact, the west Londoners have spent just as much money (£890 million) on players as Manchester City (£892m) and more than Manchester United have (£870m) in the past six years.
But, these losses have been helped by Chelsea selling players properly. In that same period, the Blues have made around £450million from selling some of their stars.
Ex-winger Eden Hazard is the biggest sale they have managed to make in that time, as Real Madrid snapped him up for around £100million last summer.
Other high-fee departures such as Alvaro Morata, Thibaut Courtois, Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Oscar have allowed the Blues more freedom to operate in the transfer market.
Chelsea were also affected by their transfer ban presented to UEFA, which only allowed them to sign loanee Mateo Kovacic for £40 million last summer.
The Blues not only managed to generate even more money by selling Hazard, but they also made several smaller sales which raised even more cash.
Look no further than David Luiz to Arsenal, Mario Pasalic to Atalanta and Ola Aina to Torino.
It means that, while the Blues are up there with the two Manchester clubs in terms of overall spend, Chelsea sit well behind the pair in terms of net spend over the last six years.
Meanwhile, Chelsea also raise money when letting go players on free transfers. Recent high-wage exits include Gary Cahill, Willian and Pedro — who were all on massive wages while at Stamford Bridge.
But, even though the Blues gained no transfer fee for the player, it makes other free signings that command high wages, such as Thiago Silva, much easier to justify.
With Chelsea’s squad currently full of players due to their numerous arrivals, do not be surprised if they end up selling even more players this summer for high prices.
The Blues are reportedly keen to let go Michy Batshuayi, Danny Drinkwater, Ross Barkley, Emerson Palmieri and Tiemoune Bakayoko this summer.
Champions League football helps teams in more ways than one.
Obviously, playing in Europe’s premier club competition attracts a higher calibre of wages, but the prize money is a completely different ball game too.
In the 2018-19 season, Maurizio Sarri led Chelsea to the Europa League glory after a 4-1 win over Arsenal in the Baku final.
The prize money for winning the competition stood at £18.3 million, according to SwissRamble, while the total European earnings from TV money and participation fees led to £41million.
But, in the Champions League last term, Chelsea earned £20 million for reaching the last-16 stage – where they were knocked out by Bayern Munich – while the additional TV money and other areas of economic gain meant they earned £72million from European competition alone.
With Chelsea securing a top-four finish last season, meaning they are eligible for this hefty source of prize money once again, it means the Blues can justify spending all the money on Werner, Ziyech and the other players as they are likely to reach the Champions League knockouts once again. — Mailonline.
Online Reporter