Chelsea get new FFP worry before £19m transfer as shock approach made for Nicolas Jackson partner

Another week beckons for Chelsea, and it's a big one. We are now in the final days before the 'first summer transfer window' shuts.

This being the June 30 cut-off for the 2023/24 Premier League financial accounts, and therefore the last chance to balance the books and attempt to comply with profitability and sustainability rules (PSRs). Chelsea believe they have done enough already.

Moving forward there is less certainty, but that is a problem for further down the line. While there has been no push to get Conor Gallagher or Trevoh Chalobah out of the door early in the first two weeks of the summer market being open, there is still time for that to come.

Here, though, football.london has the latest from the world of Chelsea and the transfer window.

Marc Guiu proposal

Chelsea have made a formal proposal to Barcelona for 19-year-old striker Marc Guiu. Following low-key talk a week or so ago that the player was on their radar, Fabrizio Romano says that a final decision from Guiu is now all that needs to be made.

Barcelona have also offered him new terms and Bayern Munich are in the mix as well, but they are pushing at the same time for Arsenal's teenage gem, Chido Obi-Martin. As for Guiu, he is said to be debating what direction to go in.

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Some claims from Spain say he is already packing his bags ready for a move to London. The good news on that front is that it would be a transfer to Chelsea, and not to RC Strasbourg as some of their other activity has been via.

football.london says: Move aside Marc Guehi, it's Marc Guiu's time, apparently. Poor jokes aside, £5million for a player from Barcelona's academy seems straight up like good value.

This is the sort of deal that Chelsea will hope can bring an easy profit if absolutely nothing else. It's a low-risk-high-reward sort of transfer.

Whether it is necessary or not is really besides the point. Chelsea are committed to this model and it will take years until the full potential success is realised. Until then it is easy for the club to keep kicking the can down the road. A penny for the thoughts of Cobham forwards though, who know have competition from fellow academy-level players that have a big price tag.

What this does mean, if Guiu is a signing for the first team, is that Nicolas Jackson is unlikely to be totally bothered by it. The 23-year-old is likely to be the senior striker if Guiu is his competition, and that feels right after the season he has just had.

PSR investigation

The Premier League are preparing to investigate transfer prices being paid by clubs after suggestions that sales of young players are being used to aid financial figures in the final weeks of the window. It comes after Everton, Chelsea, and Aston Villa were all involved in deals involving academy players.

Chelsea are close to signing Villa's teenager attacker Omari Kellyman for £19million despite him joining less than two years ago for just £600,000 from Derby County. Kellyman has played only two Premier League matches to date which has raised questions regarding his price, whilst Ian Maatsen will join Villa in a separate move for £37.5million.

Both clubs will bank the fee received in full as they prepare to finalise their 2023/24 accounts. The players signed will see their price split across the length of their contract (up to a maximum of five years). This 'loophole' will be investigated by the league though after reported scepticism over the sums involved and whether they are being artificially inflated.

The Telegraph writes that with additional pressure now to comply with profitability and sustainability rules (PSRs) there is more attention on the way clubs are doing business. Chelsea have already navigated financial regulations in the past three transfer windows under the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital ownership.

football.london says: It's understandable that the league is keeping an eye on these transactions, but the real issue is the rules in the first place. Any system that promotes selling academy graduates is fundamentally wrong.

The current set of rules gives teams a way out of a tight situation which is totally self-imposed in the first place. It doesn't take much scratching beneath the surface to see that the PSRs are not fit for purpose.

Chelsea, it is worth saying, are adamant that they will comply with the rules anyway. But moving forward plenty has to change. This is not sustainable or right.