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Chelsea’s sacking of Antonio Conte cost club £26.6m, accounts reveal


Chelsea have announced they paid out more than £26m over the sacking of Antonio Conte, a figure revealed in accounts which also show the club received an increase in funding of £247m from the owner, Roman Abramovich, during the last financial year.

The club’s accounts showed they paid a total of £26.6m in compensation and legal costs to Conte and their former manager’s backroom staff. Chelsea, who have made overall losses of £96m and seen their annual wage bill rise by 17% to £285m, fired the Italian and replaced him with Maurizio Sarri in the summer of 2018.

Conte, who has since returned to Italy to manage Internazionale, spent two fractious years at Chelsea after joining in 2016. While he steered the club to the Premier League title in his first season in England, he was fired a year later after Chelsea finished fifth and failed to qualify for the Champions League. Victory against Manchester United in the FA Cup was not enough to save Conte, who had 12 months left on his contract when he was fired.

Conte’s relationship with the Chelsea hierarchy was far from smooth. There were regular disagreements over transfer policy and a legal battle ensued over Conte’s pay-off in the wake of his dismissal. Conte, who brought an 11-strong backroom team, won the case last year and the full extent of the payout has now emerged. It means that Chelsea, who had argued the former Juventus manager was in breach of his contract, have paid out more than £90m in compensation to sacked managers since Abramovich took ownership of the club in 2003.

The accounts, published on Tuesday and covering the financial year ending 30 June 2019, read: “Exceptional items in the current year of £26.6m relate to changes in respect of the men’s team management and coaching staff, together with associated legal costs.”

Chelsea, whose turnover increased from £422.6m to £423.6m, cited increased wages and reduced profit on player sales as the principal reason for their £96m loss. They now have the sixth highest wage bill in Europe and their accounts also showed that growth in commercial income was offset by a £7m fall in matchday revenue and a £4m fall in broadcasting revenue, which the club attributed to the impact of playing in the Europa League rather than the Champions League.

However, there was a renewed show of commitment from Abramovich, whose future at Chelsea has been questioned since the British government delayed renewing his Investor (Tier 1) visa in May 2018. The Russian abandoned his UK application after the delay and took Israeli citizenship for which, being Jewish, he qualifies automatically. In the 20 months since the delay he is not thought to have been to a Chelsea match in the UK.

Chelsea have dismissed the prospect of a sale, however, and can now point to a vast increase in funding from Abramovich. The accounts read: “Funding is provided by the parent company, Fordstram Limited, which is supported by the ultimate controlling party, Mr R Abramovich. The group has received an increase in funding of £247m during the last financial year [2018: an increase in funding of £69.1m]. The company is reliant on its parent undertaking, Fordstram Limited, for its continued financial support. The company has received confirmation from its parent undertaking that sufficient funds will be provided to finance the business for the foreseeable future. The directors have therefore adopted the going concern basis in preparing these financial statements.”

Chelsea are free to spend this month after their transfer ban was lifted and Frank Lampard, their manager, is thought to have a budget of £150m. Lampard’s main targets include Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, Lyon’s Moussa Dembele, Red Bull Leipzig’s Timo Werner and Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake.

Danny Drinkwater has joined Aston Villa on loan for the rest of the season. The former Leicester midfielder returned to Chelsea last week after Burnley decided not to extend his initial six-month spell last week and Villa have acted quickly to bring him in. Drinkwater appears to have no future at Chelsea.

Villa had inquired about taking Michy Batshuayi or Olivier Giroud on loan but the signing of Drinkwater means they cannot borrow another player from Chelsea.



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