Chelsea posted the biggest pre-tax loss ever recorded by a Premier League club.
Chelsea’s pre-tax loss of £262.4m for the year ending 30 June 2025 is £197.5m more than Manchester’s. City for the 2010/11 season.
The announcement comes just three weeks after the club were hit with the Premier League’s heaviest fine and a one-year transfer ban for apparent financial irregularities under Roman Abramovich.
Chelsea said that this record loss was due to increased operating costs in 2024/25 compared to last year.
Revenue reached £490.9m, the second highest in the club’s record.
Chelsea are understood to expect that figure to rise further in 2025/26, to around £700m.
This is based on the turnover of most players in the transfer market, which was £314.4m last summer. Noni Madueke (£52m, to Arsenal), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£29m, to Everton) and Djorde Petrovic (£25m, to Bournemouth) were among those deals.
Their successful Club World Cup runs through the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. They finished fourth last season under Enzo Maresca and won the Conference League.
Chelsea posted a £128.4m profit in last year’s accounts, boosted by the sale of the women’s team to Blueco Midco – a subsidiary company – for around £200m.
Chelsea also announced on Wednesday that their women’s club (Chelsea Football Club Women Ltd) posted a loss of £17.1m, despite generating £21.3m in revenue.
The Premier League’s profit and loss rules (PSR) only allow a maximum loss of £105m over a three-year period, but clubs are able to increase losses through spending on, for example, infrastructure, youth development and women’s football.
Chelsea – like all other clubs – have been found to agree to a PSR until the three-year period ending in 2024/25.
Chelsea were fined 20 million euros (equivalent to £17.3m at the time) for breaching UEFA’s football wage rules in July, with a further penalty of more than £50m payable if compliance is not met within four years.
Chelsea are believed to be confident that the squad is now fully compliant with all regulatory requirements, and expect to remain compliant.
In February, a UEFA report put Chelsea’s losses for 2025 and beyond – at 407m euros (£355m). Sources close to the club say the difference between that number of losses and the one reported by the club on Wednesday is due to different reporting requirements applied by European football’s governing body.
Chelsea pay agents more than £65m in 12 months
Chelsea paid agents £65m last season, the highest in the Premier League.
The FA has released figures from January 2025-February 2026 which show that more than £460 million went to agents during that period.
Aston Villa were the next biggest spenders on solicitors’ fees, at £38.4 and generated, at Manchester City it is listed as paying £37.36m.
On the other side of the scale, Burnley It has been reported that they have paid staff £7.36m over the past 12 months.
The FA also revealed Championship clubs paid £69.7m in agent fees during that period, while the figure was £14m for League One sides and £2.6m for League Two teams.
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