The third Premier League team under investigation right now is Chelsea; they are being looked into for financial violations related to a move they were able to complete before Liverpool.
Chelsea, Man City, and Everton are currently under Premier League investigation for possible financial violations.
The Times, which reports on payments related to two summer 2013 signings from the Russian team Anzhi Makhachkala, claims that this is the case.
At the time, Anzhi was making headlines for its high-profile acquisitions, but financial problems caused the Dagestani company to dissolve in 2022, less than ten years later.
Their record sale coincided with Willian’s £30 million transfer to Chelsea, where Samuel Eto’o signed with the Brazilian winger the next day at Stamford Bridge.
In a shocking trade for Willian, Chelsea famously defeated Tottenham and Liverpool. It is now claimed that this was made possible by payments made to “Russian entities.”
Under Roman Abramovich’s prior ownership, “secret” payments were made in addition to those to Anzhi, according to Martyn Ziegler and Matt Lawton of The Times.
Unsolicited money was paid in a free transfer for Eto’o from Anzhi to Chelsea, and there are more claims of payments to “offshore companies” and “a player’s family.”
Chelsea has acknowledged “potentially incomplete financial reporting” in a statement. This was found during due diligence following the 2022 purchase.
The story goes on to say that the alleged payments, which total seven figures, don’t seem to have been included in the club’s yearly financial reports to the Premier League, UEFA, or the FA, which would be against their regulations.
Even if the club was acquired by a group led by American billionaire Todd Boehly last year, there is still a chance that Chelsea will be subject to penalties, as said.
The explanation states that the club self-reporting the problems may be used as mitigation, but they might still involve “heavy fines and points deductions.”
The Times reports that it “seems certain” that Chelsea’s deal with UEFA earlier this year on financial violations during the Abramovich era will have an impact on potential Premier League penalties.
Willian played 339 games over his seven years at Stamford Bridge. He then had stints with Arsenal, Corinthians, and Fulham.
Eto’o, meanwhile, only spent one season with Chelsea before joining Everton on a free transfer in 2014, having previously been touted for a move to Liverpool.
