Chelsea’s quest to add another trophy to their growing cabinet gets underway on Monday when they take on LAFC in their Club World Cup opener.
Todd Boehly will no doubt be keen to get his hands on a second honour after the Blues secured Conference League glory last month.
Despite the competition disrupting their build up for the new Premier League season, Enzo Maresca has taken a strong squad to the United States. This includes new signing Liam Delap and star loanee Andrey Santos.
The American has been an advocate in the past for less games to be played in the footballing calendar, with the Blues adding anywhere between three and seven games to their already busy 2024/25 campaign.
Todd Boehly planning ‘brutal’ cut to Chelsea’s £338m wage bill
However, finance expert Adam Williams has claimed he believes the Club World Cup is a competition the owner would love to make a regular feature for his side, and instead make changes elsewhere.
He exclusively told The Chelsea Chronicle that Boehly would love to cut down the extortionate wage bill by not needing as many players on the books to play in a reduced schedule.
He said: “I think the Club World Cup is a litmus test in terms of what Todd Boehly and Clearlake want at Chelsea.
“Boehly has said that the fixture calendar is too crowded and that they need to reduce the number of matches. But what he really means is that there should be fewer less lucrative matches. The Club World Cup could be worth up to £100m in prize money, so that’s definitely not the type of event he wants removed from the calendar.
“Instead, he probably wants to scrap the League Cup and reduce the size of the Premier League. That way, you keep fixture congestion relatively limited, you lose less money to injuries and you can maybe cut the size of your squad and reduce your wage bill. I think if you look at the research, if you can remove seven or eight competitive matches from the calendar then that can let you have quite a brutal revision when it comes to the size of your squad.
I know Chelsea have a massive squad at the moment and that has been one of the hallmarks of this nascent phase under Boehly and Clearlake, but that’s not the long-term vision. In my view, they’re using their squad now as a player trading base – they are going to continue to trim the fat and make money in the process in the coming years. Or, at least, that is the plan.
“Their camp for the Club World Cup is 28 players and they’re all on big wages. The wage bill was £338m last season, down a bit from the previous year but still high. If they can reduce the total number of matches and replace some of the lost ones with matches like the Club World Cup or money-spinning friendlies in big commercial markets, they are going to be laughing.
“Because you’re replacing less lucrative matches with more lucrative ones, you’re probably at a net neutral position financially in terms of revenue, but your costs are lower because you don’t have to pay as significant wages.“
Boehly threatening to upset traditional big sides
Some of the methods utilised by the new Chelsea owners can certainly be described as unique, and something the Premier League has not seen before.
However, Boehly is clearly trying to disrupt the recognised big three in the Premier League, with Williams stating that those in charge at Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool disagree with his way of thinking in terms of the football calendar.
He said: “Some owners take a different view. I think the received wisdom among clubs like Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool has been that more matches equals more money, which can only be a good thing. But Boehly and a couple of other guys are looking at it in a different way.“
The American will be keen to see his side get off to the perfect start against MLS opposition when they get underway in the Club World Cup on Monday night.
