Chelsea fans really got to live the dream in terms of transfers.
Roman Abramovich took over and spent crazy amounts of money 15 years ago, and the Blues broke every record in taking themselves to the top of the game.
So we’re not too fussed if we enter a new age of frugality now – although lots of fans will be.
All we want to see is enough money spent to keep us competitive in the Champions League, and nothing drained out of the club to make the owners richer.
That should be more than possible, and new owner Todd Boehly has been very honest about his plans, as stated in quotes picked up by the Evening Standard today.
He pointed to new Financial Pair Play rules as a serious concern that would stop clubs spending freely:
“Financial Fair Play is starting to get some teeth and that will limit ability to acquire players at any price,” the new owner explained.
“UEFA takes it seriously and will continue to take it seriously. [More teeth] means financial penalties and disqualification from competitions.”
He pointed to Liverpool as an example of a team that competed at the top without overspending its means.
“If you look at the models that are very successful, Liverpool is a great model,” said Boehly.
“Liverpool generates a couple of hundred million more revenue than Chelsea and they generate earnings, so there is an opportunity to compete.”
If we can be as successful as they have been in recent years, we don’t really mind how much we spend.