Things are done a little differently at Chelsea these days, and it’s clearly not to everyone’s liking.
Ever since being taken over by Clearlake Capital, the Blues have undergone a consistent transformation on and off the pitch, and one of the most noticeable changes is the extra-long contracts that have been routinely offered to first-team playing staff.
Previously, a player being handed a five-year deal would be considered to be a sign of how important they are to their particular club.
Thanks to the business nous of Chelsea’s owners, they have taken advantage of a loophole to be able to offer their players seven, eight, or in the case of Cole Palmer, nine-year contracts.
Essentially, it has allowed the Premier League outfit to be able to amortise the player’s value across a much longer period of time, which is of clear benefit when taking Financial Fair Play and the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) into account.
It hasn’t gone down well with Keith Wyness, Everton’s former CEO, however.
“They’ve (Chelsea) extended the contracts, they’ve amortised it even further,” he said on Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast.
“It’s no longer seven or eight years, it’s now nine, 10 or 11 years. That’s how they seem to have done it with (Cole) Palmer and (Nicolas) Jackson.
“It’s certainly very strange, and I would never have thought of it when I was in the game. It’s just a huge risk to take with players who can get injuries and other issues.
“While Palmer has had a good season – that’s all it has been, one season. You hope they’ll kick on because they are quality players – but will you get the value for these players in three or four years?
“It’s still an experiment. In five years, we’ll know if it works – but there are a lot of unknowns.”
Wyness clearly knows what he’s talking about and it will be interesting indeed to see if the players mentioned are still doing as well for the West London outfit many years hence, as they appear to be doing at present.
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