Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck admits the club need to cut their transfer outlay in order to meet UEFA’s Financial Fair Play criteria.
At the end of January, the Blues recorded a loss of £70.9 million for last year up to June 2010 but have since spent a reported £70m on transfers this summer, and Buck has stressed the club can’t rely on Billionaire owner Roman Abromovich forever.
“Even before [Financial Fair Play] we were of the view we couldn’t rely on Mr Abramovich for ever,” Buck told the Daily Mail.
“We had to figure out a way over the medium term to stand on our own two feet. Maybe Financial Fair Play is making us do that a little bit quicker.
“We have to up our sponsorship income. We have to reduce our transfer fees, reduce our payroll and up our match-day revenues if we can. Naming rights could also be important.
“An academy costs maybe £5m a year to run, so if you can get maybe one player every year or 18 months into the first team, look at the transfer fees you’ve saved. The economics are pretty clear. Implementing it is much more difficult.”
Chelsea are under pressure to meet the Financial Fair Play rules which forces clubs to break even by 2014 or face expulsion from UEFA competitions.
