"Clearly cheating" - La Liga president accuses Chelsea of using unfair methods to escape FFP
La Liga president Javier Tebas has accused Premier League club Chelsea of cheating amid recent transfer activities.
The Blues have been the most active club in the transfer market since American Billionaire Todd Boehly took ownership of the West London-based club last year.
The Boehly and Clearlake consortium has since splashed well over £600 million on new signings across the last two transfer windows as they continue to commit to the club's development.
Javier Tebas (La Liga President) is not happy the way Chelsea are buying players on long term contracts. https://t.co/PDmBsxVpBC
However, Chelsea's transfer spending hasn't really gone down well with a couple of rival teams, especially as the Blues have been able to avoid breaking FFP. The West London club were accused of exploiting a loop-hole in the Financial Fair Play rules by handing out long-term contracts to new signings.
This was in a bid to spread the payments of most of their latest acquisitions for a longer period while maintaining a healthy financial record as such and avoiding FFP sanctions. Chelsea handed out lengthy deals to the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk, who both signed eight-and-a-half years of contracts with the Blues.
The duo did cost Graham Potter's team well up to £200 million in transfer fees during the January winter transfer window. The West London club signed Mudryk for £88.5 million, while Enzo was brought in for a British transfer record worth around £106.8 million.
Meanwhile, La Liga president Tebas has given his voice to the Blues' recent spending amid avoiding FFP sanctions. He claimed that the Premier League club have cheated in their transfer activities.
In his words (via Barca Universal):
"Chelsea are clearly cheating by signing players on eight or nine-year contracts."
However, it doesn't look as if Chelsea will cut down on their transfer spending anytime soon, as they are still being linked with a couple of players this summer. One such includes Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, who is expected to cost the Blues a possible record transfer fee should they succeed in securing his services this summer.
Chelsea manager makes honest admission about Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti
Graham Potter and Carlo Ancelotti will face each other in the dog-outs in a matter of weeks' time when their clubs meet in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions.
Graham Potter, however, did show respect for his counterpart after finding out that his Chelsea team will face Real Madrid for the third time in a row in the competition.
In his words, as seen on the club's official website, he said:
"I don't know him personally, but I faced him when he was at Everton. I know he [Ancelotti] is a gentleman."
He continued:
"It goes without saying, the amount of respect I have for him and what he has achieved is amazing, the length of time between winning the Champions League and 20 years, that is amazing and incredible."