Chelsea set for FFP boost with £500m figure to help Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital

While Chelsea have faced much scrutiny over the past 18 months or so for their approach in the transfer market, and just how they planned to pay for all of their activity, the club has managed to keep the Premier League’s profit and sustainability (PSR) wolves from the door.

Through player trading, and a high number of ‘pure profit’ players who graduated from the club’s Cobham Academy sold for high sums, as well as through selling assets such as hotels and the women’s team to sister companies within the BlueCo22 portfolio, Chelsea have thus far managed to make their bold transfer plan pay off.

The continued ability to do so rests on competitive success returning to Stamford Bridge soon, and that means qualification for the UEFA Champions League, which can deliver sums of more than £100m a year for a deep run in the competition.

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But next summer Chelsea have an ace up their sleeve that only one other Premier League side, Manchester City, can match, and that is participation in the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, a competition that will be played in the United States from June 15 to July 13.

The competition has increased to 32 teams as of 2025, and FIFA have moved to try and make it as lucrative as possible in an attempt to create a competition that might stave off the threat of another rise in interest of a European Super League, which 12 major clubs agitated for back in 2021 to the chagrin of football fans and governing bodies.

Chelsea qualify for next year’s competition by virtue of the last four winners of the Champions League being handed qualification for UEFA’s quota. Chelsea won the competition in 2021.

What that means for Chelsea is that their pre-season plans will be focused on the Club World Cup next season, a competition where, according to the Times, the prize money is set to be north of £500m.

What will be important is how that money will be split up. If it is an equal share between 32 teams then that would be £15.6m per team. The biggest clubs will be wanting to see a different split that such an equal share given they are the ones that will attract the global audiences and, in turn, the reasons that broadcasters will pay good money to show the action.

Discussions remain ongoing about how such prize money will be split up, but if an equal share were to be the case then it could mean that clubs such as Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich choose to send younger squads and host pre-season tours in other countries with some of their first-team stars, thus allowing them to double the revenue during pre-season.

That will be of concern to FIFA, who are wanting this revamped tournament to become a serious part of the football calendar rather than be seen as a needless distraction by the biggest clubs. FIFA needs the big clubs to be onside, which means that Chelsea may have some leverage when it comes to trying to get more money from the deal than may already be on the table.

Either way, next summer for Chelsea will be a lucrative one, and that will be important for aiding their PSR position as the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital project looks to finally move forward after much tumult.