Chelsea have announced pre-tax losses of £90.1million(€105 million) in the 12 months up to June 2023, their first full year under the ownership of Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium.
The figure, an improvement on the previous years’ loss of £121.4 million, was also listed in the accounts filed for holding company Blueco, via which Boehly purchased the club from former owner Roman Abramovich in May 2022.
Blueco itself, which also owns French Ligue 1 side Strasbourg, recorded losses of £653 million from its founding in March 2022 up to June 2023.
Chelsea’s turnover is up from £481.3 million in 2021/22 to £512.5 million, thanks in part to player sales as the club has offloaded a substantial number of its more experienced squad members since Clearlake took ownership.
Broadcasting revenue has been hit by the team’s failure to qualify for European competition last season, dropping by £9.1 million to £255.9 million.
Premier League rules state a club can have made a loss no greater than £105 million over a three-year period, meaning there are likely to be further player sales required in the coming months in order to remain within regulations, particularly with qualification for Europe via their league position looking unlikely this campaign.
Boss Mauricio Pochettino had not had time to digest the news when asked for his thoughts at a pre-match press conference, saying: “At the moment I still haven’t talked with the owners or sporting director. I cannot give my opinions, I don’t know anything, we were training the whole morning.
“Today or maybe tomorrow I will have better information and I can explain what is my opinion.”
Asked whether the club will be able to spend this summer, he added: “I don’t know. I need also to be informed. Until today, we didn’t talk about that.
“The club today announced the finances. This afternoon or tomorrow we will talk and I will be informed for sure. But I don’t know what it is going to happen.”
