The Premier League has Chelsea in its “crosshairs” as there remains a “big mystery” surrounding their intra-company hotel sale over a year on from the deal.
The Blues’ latest financial report showed the London club owned by Todd Boehly reduced their losses under PSR by selling two hotels on the Stamford Bridge in an intra-company deal for £76m.
No Premier League statement
There are no rules preventing Chelsea from using this method to skirt the rules, so long as the hotels were sold for a fair market value, but the deal hasn’t shown up on the Land Registry, which adds to the mystique, and neither Chelsea nor the Premier League have made a statement on the matter.
Current PSR rules stipulate that top flight clubs can lose a maximum of £105m over three years before being hit with sanctions, which include possible points deductions, as Everton and Nottingham Forest discovered last season.
Chelsea in the “crosshairs”
And Keith Wyness – who served as Everton CEO and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – claims Boehly and Chelsea will be in “crosshairs” of the Premier League over the hotel deal and is surprised no statement has been made as of yet.
He told Football Insider: “There’s really a big mystery over whether this transaction is going to be allowable under PSR.
“The Premier League still haven’t made a statement on this.
“This is something I’ve got my eyes on, and a lot of other people are also watching this.
“It’s strange that it hasn’t been approved.
“We know the sale has gone through and there is a new management company involved, but we’ll have to keep an eye on this going forward.
“I think this will be firmly in the crosshairs of the Premier League right now.
“Anything to do with PSR, because of all the controversy, will be front and centre for them.
“Something like this is under a lot of scrutiny with a lot of eyes watching it, so they’ll be right on top of it.”
