Enzo Maresca blames Premier League rules for Chelsea cashing in on academy

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca claimed the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations are to blame for Chelsea’s recent decisions to cash in on academy players, with homegrown midfielder Conor Gallagher currently at the center of a potential move to Atletico Madrid.

England international Gallagher is at a crossroads in his Chelsea career because his current contract is due to expire next summer, meaning the club wants him to either extend his contract immediately or agree to be sold. This is to avoid an eventuality in which Gallagher leaves Stamford Bridge for nothing at all in 2025.

Premier League clubs undergo yearly evaluations to ensure compliance with the league’s profitability and sustainability regulations, and to avoid breaches clubs have increasingly sold academy players to balance the books.

A player developed in the academy can be registered as pure profit on the accounts, which has led Premier League clubs to cash in on homegrown talent rather than players acquired from other clubs.

Since a consortium led by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly acquired Chelsea in May 2022, the club has sold several players developed by its academy, including Lewis Hall, Billy Gilmour, Mason Mount, Ian Maatsen, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

This summer, Gallagher is expected to become the next player to department should he move to Spanish side Atletico Madrid, and moves may yet develop for academy graduates Armando Broja and Trevoh Chalobah.

Gallagher’s impending move has split the fan base. Some supporters believe it would be a smart way to recoup funds, and others argue it is a betrayal of the club’s academy.

For Chelsea supporters, the sense has grown more acute because players including Tino Livramento, Marc Guehi, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham were also sold by the club under Roman Abramovich’s regime.

Maresca was asked Monday night about the exodus of players from the club’s academy.

“But this is not Chelsea’s problem,” Maresca countered. “These are the rules. All the clubs at this moment are pressured to sell players from the academy because of the rules. It’s all of the Premier League clubs’ problems.”

He was then asked by The Athletic whether he could reassure Chelsea fans the club is committed to developing players to play on the first team and not simply to be sold as profit to balance the books.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I also think the intention of the club is not to sell players from the academy, but it is the rules at the end that you have to do it. It’s not only us; it’s all the Premier League clubs. It’s a shame because in Italy we have Francesco Totti at Roma, 20 years with the same club.

“A one-club man — we love that in football; the fans want to see that. But with the rules now, it is different from the past.”

It was pointed out to Maresca that Chelsea have spent a lot of money in the past two years, which has also placed the club in this position. The club spent over £1 billion across the first three transfer windows of the Clearlake-Boehly ownership.

“Yeah, but it is not only Chelsea spending money on players,” Maresca said. “It’s all the big clubs trying to try and buy players. Some of the clubs spend more, some spend less. My personal opinion is it’s a shame because we like to see a one-club man, but the rules are different.”

Does the Premier League need to change the rules, therefore?

“If they want to protect academy players,” Maresca said, “then probably yes.”

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(Photo: Jason Mowry/Getty Images)