Chelsea £59m transfer hurdle explained amid Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku truth

Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson could leave Chelsea this summer (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Having spent some £240 million acquiring eight new players this summer, Chelsea have also been extremely active in making sure they limit the impact on their books by moving players on.

Enzo Maresca 's side have added the likes of Jorrel Hato, Liam Delap, Estevao, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens, Dario Essugo, Mamadou Sarr and Kendry Paez to their squad, while a deal for Manchester United’s wantaway winger Alejandro Garnacho is also in play.

When the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital-led BlueCo22 consortium acquired Chelsea back in early 2022, the transfer strategy that was employed - that has seen more than £1.2 billion spent on new players - raised plenty of eyebrows. But through effective player trading and selling tangible assets such as the women's team and the club hotels to related entities, there were no issues when it came to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

This summer has seen them once again prove to be effective sellers, with Noni Madueke, Joao Felix, Djordje Petrovic, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Lesley Ugochukwu, Armando Broja, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Bashir Humphreys, Mathis Amougou and Marcus Betinelli all departing, with the club bringing in some £200m in sales, clearing tens of millions in existing book value on the accounts in the process and generating healthy profits on the prices paid originally.

There are still players on the block when it comes to sales, too, with strikers Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku looking like their Stamford Bridge days may be numbered. Both are expected to be omitted from the Friday night trip to West Ham United.

Chelsea boss Maresca told the media this week: “Nico is available, but he's not part of the squad. We know something can happen before the window closes. With Christo, it's the same answer.”

But what might the sales mean for Chelsea’s finances and ability to move late in the window?

Fees of around £80m have previously been mooted when it has come to Jackson with Newcastle United among those to have been linked with the 24-year-old Senegalese, a 2023 signing from Villarreal for £32m on an eight-year deal. Nkunku arrived from RB Leipzig that same year for £52m on a six-year deal.

The eight and six year deals handed out were done before the Premier League and UEFA moved to put a block on clubs amortising deals for long periods of time back in December 2023. Amortisation, which is how guaranteed sums are accounted for on the books, is capped at five years now, although players can still sign longer term contracts. The rule change was not applied retrospectively.

In Jackson’s case, the £32m sum, divided by eight, gave an annual amortisation cost of £4m. He has been at Chelsea two years and cleared two years of that, so his remaining book value should sit around £24m. Anything the club sell him for over and above that is profit and removes that remaining book value from the accounts.

In the case of Nkunku and his six years, his £52m sum would be £8.7m per year, meaning that he has cleared £17.4m with £34.6m remaining on his book value. Given his rather limited contribution at Chelsea during his time at the club, gaining a hefty profit over and above that would take some doing, so Chelsea will likely try and seek to recoup a strong figure on Jackson, a more saleable asset, to offset any limited interest in Nkunku.

That means that Chelsea have to clear a near £59m sum for the two combined before any profit is realised, although simply removing the remaining book value would be positively impactful.

However, with the club’s need to make moves to comply with PSR conditions less and the main motivator being compliance with UEFA’s squad cost ratio rule, something they were fined for after breaching and committed to tackling, they do have leverage in dealings in that they don’t have to sell and knowing that there are increasingly desperate buyers out there in the final days of the window, such as Newcastle.