Trouble at Chelsea: Premier League launches investigation into Willian and Samuel Eto’o transfers

A Premier League investigation has been launched into possible financial rule violations from Chelsea, including the transfers involving Willian and Samuel Eto’o from 2013.

The accusations, according to Chelsea’s owners, “pre-date the current ownership” and “do not pertain to any individual who is now at the club.”

The Financial Fair Play regulations were broken by Chelsea in July when they were fined £8.6 million by UEFA for “submitting inadequate financial information” between 2012 and 2019. After the club was sold in May 2022, the Clearlake group, the team’s new owners, reported the violations. It is believed that at the same time, they also informed the Premier League.

The signing of Brazil’s Willian and Cameroon’s Eto’o are also under investigation and the league’s probe was validated in August. Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, who owned the team from 2003 until 2022, was Chelsea’s CEO when both players signed on. Abramovich sold Chelsea last year to a group headed by private equity company Clearlake Capital and American billionaire Todd Boehly.

These claims are older than the club’s current ownership, according to a statement released by Chelsea on Monday. They don’t apply to anyone who works at the club currently and instead are about an organisation that the club’s prior owner reportedly managed.

“Chelsea FC’s ownership group completed its purchase of the club on May 30, 2022. During a thorough due diligence process before the completion of the purchase, the ownership group became aware of potentially incomplete financial reporting concerning historical transactions during the club’s previous ownership. Immediately following the completion of the purchase, the club proactively self-reported these matters to all applicable football regulators. By the club’s ownership group’s core principles of full compliance and transparency, the club has proactively assisted the applicable regulators with their investigations and will continue to do so.”