Chelsea’s scattergun transfer approach explained as Blues ‘thought they were facing another ban’ over dodgy dealings during Roman Abramovich era

Due in large part to Chelsea's league position, the transfer strategy the team has employed over the past 12 months has come under intense scrutiny. English football has never seen such numbers involved in the span of such a brief period. Mustoe, a former midfielder for Middlesborough, has spoken exclusively to The Byline about the present problems at Stamford Bridge and provided some explanation for the heavy spending by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, which occurred mostly in the summer of 2022 and January 2023.

Speaking to The Byline, Mustoe said: “I wouldn’t have spent all that money so quickly when you haven’t got the professionals in charge. But my understanding is, and it is from a very, very good source, that the financial problems that the new ownership had to go through… and by the way, they are pretty thorough with all this stuff, and there were so many dodgy-looking things in the accounts the club thought that they were gonna get done.

"Which they have done, they have been done by the way, they’ve been fined. The club were worried that they were gonna get another transfer ban and to jump ahead of that potential transfer ban when they said the accounts are here and we admit there’s some problems here and some dodgy agents or whatever it is. They thought they had to stack up on players.”

Since Boehly purchased Chelsea in 2022, the club has spent over £1 billion ($1.26 billion) on players. As a result, Chelsea is currently the subject of FA and Premier League investigations into possible rule violations, including financial fair play. Chelsea can afford to keep spending, though, given their track record of turning a profit from sales. The Blues are the Premier League team that has made the most revenue from player sales during the past ten years.

Surprisingly, Chelsea did not splash much cash in the January transfer window as they did not make a single signing despite their fair struggle in the league this season. However, it is likely that if Mauricio Pochettino does not continue after this season, the Blues will likely be active in the summer of this year.