Chelsea reveal largest pre-tax loss in Premier League history

Chelsea FC have announced a pre-tax loss of £262.4m - the biggest in Premier League history.

The west London football club said the losses for the 2024-25 season were in part due to higher operating costs compared to the previous year.

In the previous year's accounts, Chelsea posted a profit of £128.4m which was helped by the sale of the women's team to Blueco Midco - a subsidiary company - for nearly £200m.

The club said revenue for 2024-25 was £490.9m, the second-highest on record for the Blues, and included some of the money earned from the winning Club World Cup run last summer.

The losses for the year ending 30 June 2025 were revealed weeks after the club were given a suspended one-year transfer ban and £10.75m fine following historical breaches of Premier League rules.

Despite the record loss, insiders are confident the club are compliant with the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) going forward, the Press Association (PA) news agency has reported.

PSR rules are designed to prevent unsustainable spending and aim to ensure financial stability.

The rules allow for maximum losses of £105m over three years - but allowances are made for spending on infrastructure, youth development and women's football.

It is understood those 'add-backs' of permitted losses have ensured the club were deemed PSR-compliant for 2024-25, according to PA.

Chelsea are believed to be forecasting revenue of over £700m for the 2025-26 season.

The club have spent around £1.5bn on transfers since being taken over by a new ownership group including chairman American businessman Todd Boehly in 2022.

The group bought the club from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich - who was forced to sell due to his ties with Vladimir Putin following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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Last month, the club were given a suspended one-year transfer ban over payments to agents under Abramovich's reign.

A league investigation found that, between 2011 and 2018, more than £47.5m of undisclosed payments by third parties associated with Chelsea were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties.

Payments were made from entities which the league said were "controlled by or associated with" Abramovich to unlicensed agents and individuals connected to selling clubs which helped to facilitate transfers for players, including Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o and Willian.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of those players.

The previous highest recorded pre-tax loss in the Premier League was the £197.5m posted by Manchester City for the 2010-11 season.

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