Chelsea have announced the biggest pre-tax loss ever recorded by a Premier League club.
Chelsea’s pre-tax loss of £262.4 million for the year ending 30 June 2025 is higher than Manchester City’s £197.5 million in the 2010/11 season.
The announcement comes just three weeks after the club was handed the heaviest fine and one-year transfer ban in Premier League history for historic self-declared financial breaches during the Roman Abramovich era.
Chelsea said this record deficit was partly due to higher operating costs in 2024/25 compared to the previous year.
Revenues reach up to £490.9m, making him the second-highest amount in the club’s history.
Chelsea are understood to expect this figure to rise further in the 2025/26 season, potentially reaching £700m.
This comes after player sales in last summer’s transfer window reached £314.4m. Noni Maduke (£52m, to Arsenal), Keiynan Dewsbury-Hall (£29m, to Everton) and Jorde Petrovic (£25m, to Bournemouth) were also among them.
Their successful Club World Cup spans the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. Last season, they finished fourth under coach Enzo Maresca and won the conference league.
Chelsea posted a profit of £128.4m last year, helped by the sale of the women’s team to subsidiary Blueco Midco for around £200m.
Chelsea also announced on Wednesday that their women’s team (Chelsea Football Club Women’s Limited) had posted a loss of £17.1 million, despite generating revenue of £21.3 million.
The Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR) only allow for losses of up to £105m over three years, but clubs can recoup some of those losses through spending on infrastructure, youth development and women’s football.
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Marc Cucurella becomes the second senior Chelsea player to call into question the direction of the club over comments made on international duty.
Chelsea, like all other clubs, are found to be PSR-compliant for up to three years until the 2024/25 season.
Chelsea were fined €20m (equivalent to £17.3m at the time) in July for breaching UEFA’s football revenue rules, with a further penalty of more than £50m to be imposed if compliance was not achieved within four years.
Chelsea believes the club is fully positioned to comply with all regulatory requirements and expects to continue to do so.
February’s UEFA report put Chelsea’s losses in 2025 even higher, at €407m (about £355m). A person close to the club said the difference between this loss and the one reported by the club on Wednesday was due to different reporting requirements applied by European football’s governing body.
Chelsea to pay agent over £65m over 12 months
Chelsea have paid his agent £65m in the past year, the highest amount in the Premier League.
The FA has released figures for the period February 2025 to February 2026, which show more than £460m has flowed to the agency over this period.
Aston Villa were next to pay an agent’s fee, with a reported £38.4m, followed by Manchester City, who are said to have paid £37.36m.
Meanwhile, Burnley reportedly paid his agent £7.36m over 12 months.
The FA also revealed that Championship clubs paid £69.7m in agent fees during this period, compared to £14m for League One teams and £2.6m for League Two teams.
