Chelsea's unlikely Saudi saviours: Pro League spending set to rescue Todd Boehly's bloated Blues from growing financial concerns

Kalidou Koulibaly has already ended his ill-fated one-season spell at Stamford Bridge by joining Al-Hilal for £21.5 million ($27m), while three more players who Chelsea were desperate to shift this summer are all seemingly destined for lucrative moves to the Middle East; Hakim Ziyech is expected to join Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is in advanced talks with Al-Ahli and a Saudi offer is anticipated for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Elsewhere, returning loanees Romelu Lukaku and Callum Hudson-Odoi have both been linked with moves to the Gulf, although the former has rejected the idea of joining Al-Hilal as he wants to return to Inter.

Meanwhile, N'Golo Kante - a player Chelsea were more open to keeping - has agreed a free transfer to join his compatriot Benzema at Al-Ittihad, with his contract due to expire at the end of June.

Chelsea are desperate to balance the books after posting huge losses in the two previous seasons and splurging an eye-watering £600m ($763m) on new players in 2022-23 - all of which leaves them in danger of failing to stay within the Premier League's three-year limit on losses of £105m ($133.6m) or more.

The Blues were added to UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) watchlist in September 2022, with European football's governing body keeping a close eye on their activity in the months since. Consequently, their January spree will likely have raised some eyebrows.

Player sales are the only real exit strategy for the mess the club finds itself in, and therefore interest from free-spending Saudi clubs in so many of their stars will come as a serious relief.

If they want to include any more sales in their accounts for 2022-23 to offset their spending, they will need to have them signed off by June 30. They only sold the likes of Timo Werner, Emerson Palmieri, Jorginho and Billy Gilmour within that period for less than £60m ($76m) in total. Although Koulibaly's switch has already been confirmed, it remains to be seen whether that can be added to the total as the Saudi transfer window doesn't open until July 1.

The potential exodus to the Middle East also provides a boost in terms of potential incomings, as Chelsea need to raise funds for further spending, although any deals are expected to be more targeted this summer.

Chelsea co-owner Boehly in particular will be breathing a sigh of relief. It was he who sanctioned ill-advised deals for Koulibaly and Aubameyang last summer, during his ill-fated spell as self-appointed sporting director. Both were among the club's biggest transfer failures in 2022-23, and the club will have been desperate to shift them in this window.

Despite taking a loss of around £10m ($12.8m), recouping £21.5 million ($27m) for Koulibaly after an underwhelming single season in English football will be seen as a relative success, and Chelsea will also expect to come close to clawing back the £10.3m ($13.1m) they paid Barcelona for Aubameyang when an offer eventually arrives from one of the PIF-backed clubs.

Although unconfirmed, it has been reported that PIF previously invested in Clearlake Capital, who are 60% majority shareholders of Chelsea, with billions of pounds worth of their assets allegedly managed by the investment firm. It has also been claimed that PIF has collaborated with one of Boehly's firms to invest in a hotel chain.

However, the west London club has denied any existing financial interest in the club from the Saudi fund, and claim that any interest in their players is purely transactional and comes as a result of Chelsea's popularity in the Middle East, per The Telegraph. Any alleged investment from PIF was also supposedly scrutinised in great detail by the Premier League in its ownership tests last year.

Chelsea aren't fully in the clear yet, though. According to The Telegraph, leading European clubs have called for an investigation into the Blues' transfer dealings with Saudi Arabia, as well as Wolves', as they believe they are using the kingdom's wealth as a "get out of FFP jail free card" given some of the potentially inflated fees that are set to be paid for players who are arguably past their best.

One unnamed European club told the newspaper: “PIF has so many investments around the world that it should be compelled to prove there are no conflicts of interest as it spends big with its bottomless pit of cash on ageing players.

“Watch clubs use Saudi this summer across Europe as a get out of FFP jail free card. It becomes even murkier should PIF have investment interest in both the selling and buying club.”

However, these grievances may fall on deaf ears as the Premier League is said to be satisfied that there is no conflict of interest with regard to Clearlake's alleged links to PIF, having sought written assurances from Chelsea's owners.