Uefa closes transfer contract loophole Chelsea exploited with lengthy deals
Chelsea and other European clubs will no longer be able to spread a transfer fee across more than five years of a player’s initial contract after Uefa closed a loophole in its regulations.
Chelsea have signed a number of players on lengthy deals over the last two transfer windows, including handing eight-and-a-half-year contracts to Enzo Fernández and Mykhailo Mudryk in January.
The transfer fees are then spread evenly over that contract, meaning the longer it is, the smaller the annual payments recorded on the club’s accounts. For instance, a £100m fee would be amortised at £20m a year with a fiveyear contract but at £12.5m a year if a deal were eight years.
There is still nothing in the rules – which come into force on Saturday – preventing a club from spreading the cost by extending a contract, but for amortisation purposes that extension could not be for more than five years either. Clubs can still sign players to longer contracts if their national associations allow it but the cost of the transfer fee must be amortised over the first five years unless the contract is extended.
Uefa said the new regulations would not apply to deals already done but would “ensure equal treatment of all clubs and improve financial sustainability”.
European football’s governing body has also moved to prevent clubs colluding to inflate the value of players for accounting purposes. This follows the capital gains scandal involving clubs in Italy, which led to the Juventus board resigning last November.
Clubs must assess whether a transaction counts as a straight swap, in which case it must be accounted for in line with international standards. International Accounting Standard (IAS) 38 states that if it is not possible to calculate the fair value of a player, profit on a sale cannot be recognised.
Uefa also announced plans for a minimum standards framework for women’s national teams to ensure equality of player welfare standards and travel and training conditions. It said the detail would be announced in due course.