On February 1, 2022-2023, the winter transfer window of all European football leagues closes.
The English Premier League led the league by spending €763m; Ligue 1, in second place, spent around 118 million euros; the Bundesliga ranked third with 68.27 million euros spent. This is 2023/1/11 - keywords (111), URL (20). The accounts of each league are far worse than those of the Premier League.
The Premier League dominates nine of the top 10 clubs in terms of spending. Chelsea, who spent 329 million euros on eight players, almost turned this winter's arms race into a one-man show.
During the winter window, the most sensational aid is to join the "Blue Army" for two hundred million yuan Mr..
Chelsea have snapped up Ukrainian winger Mudrick from Arsenal for €100m (€70m base fee, with a €30m variable clause).
In the closing moments of the window, Chelsea secured Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez for 121 million euros, making him the most expensive transfer in Premier League history and the sixth most expensive in football history.
In fact, Enzo's move to Chelsea has long been rumoured, and both parties have finally completed the signing after a tortuous process.
Enzo previously played for Benfica in the Portuguese Premier League. Enzo, who won the World Cup and the Best Rookie award at the Qatar World Cup in December 2022, has been favored by many major clubs including Chelsea and Liverpool.
Chelsea were the first to ask for the money and opened talks with Benfica president Rui Costa but failed to reach an agreement. During this period, the initiation of the intention to go, Enzo even missed the club's training, and was punished.
At the beginning of January 2023, Portuguese media La Record revealed the reason for the breakdown of negotiations between the two sides. Benfica only accepted a lump sum payment of 127 million euros, but Chelsea's offer was not only lower, but also insisted on payment in installments.
Since then, Enzo has returned to playing and training at Benfica and the transfer drama seems to have come to an end. But as the winter window closed, the two sides resumed talks.
The two clubs have finally reached an agreement after several days of talks, according to Portuguese media outlets El Cordo and Le Recorder. The transfer documents were sent to the Premier League and the Portuguese FA in the last two minutes of the window.
Enzo will be signed by Chelsea until June 2031 and will be paid around 10 million euros per season.
Chelsea have spent more than 600 million euros this season after the winter window, and owner Todd Burley, who has only been in the car for seven months, has shown no reservations about money.
In May 2022, a consortium led by Burley bought Chelsea FC for a record 4.25 billion pounds. This isn't the first time an American businessman has invested in sports. He also owns stakes in MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers and the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers.
For Burley, who has a lot of experience investing in sports, the Chelsea deal is a good one.
In April 2022, UEFA announced that the Financial Sustainability Regulation (FSR) would replace the Financial Equity Programme (FFP) and be phased in from June.
The FSR stipulates that by the 2025-2026 season, the ratio of revenue and expenditure of clubs must not exceed 70%. To avoid breaking the rules, Chelsea chose to amortise the contract.
Of the 16 players signed this season, three-quarters have been under contract for more than five years. Mudick's contract is for eight and a half years, which means the club will only receive 8.235,000 euros a year, while Enzo's deal is also for eight and a half years, with the remainder to be paid in six instalments after the initial payment of 40 million euros.
Beyond that, the club is betting on the future. Of the eight signings this winter, the oldest is only 23-year-old Felix. If these young players come through at Chelsea, it will be a valuable asset to the club.
Chelsea, however, have immediate problems. Chelsea are 10th in the Premier League with 29 points so far this season, well outside the top four of the Champions League.
Currently, according to The Athletic, Chelsea's main shirt sponsors Three and sleeve sponsors Whalefin will both end their deals at the end of the season, costing the club £60m in lost revenue.
Failure to compete in next season's Champions League would have a serious impact on the club's commercial value and would undermine Chelsea's ability to recoup their investment in the short term.