Chelsea have been anxiously watching on the sidelines as they await a verdict on Manchester City’s legal battle with the Premier League.
Chelsea will be on tenterhooks after an independent Premier League commission declared that Everton benefited from a sporting advantage for breaching the profitability and sustainability rules in June 2022.
The panel determined that Burnley were relegated from the English top-flight in May 2022 as a result of the financial misconduct at Goodison Park. The Toffees, who have appealed the decision, have been ordered to pay Burnley a compensation fee of £35m plus interest.
In an official statement, Everton claimed they are ‘surprised and angered by the decision’, which was later described as ‘fundamentally flawed in both law and fact’. The Toffees also suggested that the verdict ‘sets a dangerous and unworkable precedent for English football’.
Meanwhile, Manchester City, who were charged by the Premier League with 115 alleged breaches of financial regulations in February 2023, are still yet to receive a verdict. The club were accused of failing to provide accurate financial information and failing to cooperate with investigations spanning nine seasons, from 2009/10 to 2017/18.
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Manchester City denied any wrongdoing and sought to prove their innocence in front of an independent panel. The case, which was heard in private, concluded late last year, leaving Premier League clubs anxiously waiting on the sidelines.
According to The Times, if Manchester City are found guilty of the charges, rival teams could ask for compensation, arguing that the alleged breaches gave them a sporting advantage. In a separate report by The Times in light of Burnley’s legal win over Everton, it claimed that opposition clubs could claim in excess of £100m if the Citizens are found guilty.
It’s said that Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, and Manchester United all submitted legal notices in 2024, reserving the right to seek compensation if Manchester City are found guilty. The Times also claimed that senior legal experts believe teams could make ‘reasonable claims’ against Chelsea.
Back in March 2026, an independent commission handed the Blues a £10.75m fine for breaching rules under Roman Abramovich, relating to financial reporting, third-party investment and youth development. The Premier League issued Chelsea with an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban and a one-year first-team transfer ban, both suspended for two years.
The Blues did not, however, breach the profitability and sustainability rules during the period in question, so they were not given a sporting punishment, such as a points deduction. In an official statement, the Premier League did not claim that Chelsea received any ‘sporting advantage’ from the admitted breaches.
It read: “The Premier League assessed a series of recalculations of the club’s historical financial submissions, which took into account the payments made for the benefit of Chelsea FC.
“Importantly, having undertaken that assessment, the Premier League Board was satisfied that in no scenario would the club have breached the League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules during the relevant periods, had the relevant payments been properly included in the club’s historical financial submissions.
“When considering the appropriate sanction, the Premier League Board noted that the club’s proactive self-reporting, admissions of breach and exceptional cooperation throughout the investigation acted as significant mitigating factors.”
So, what does this mean for Chelsea? The Blues are three months into a two-year suspended one-year first-team transfer ban. The club are also three months into a nine-month academy transfer ban.
This is due to breaches of youth development rules between 2019 and 2022, prior to the takeover by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly. It stops Chelsea from signing youth players who have previously been registered at another academy in either the Premier League or the English Football League.
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