UEFA make huge Chelsea transfer statement after fine and squad restrictions

UEFA have confirmed that Chelsea's Champions League squad has hit the required financial barometers after extra restrictions were placed on the club earlier this year. Chelseahad been fined more than £27million for breaching regulations last season whilst in the Conference League.

Had Chelsea not complied with European football governing body's new measures then their fine could have risen to more than £70million. In essence, Chelsea needed to ensure that the cost of players they added to their A List squad from the Conference League knockout stages was less than the cost of those removed.

Noni Madueke, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Nicolas Jackson all counted towards that figure but Joao Felix, Renato Veiga, and Djordje Petrovic, among others, did not.Chelsea chose to only name 23 players in their A List.

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UEFA rules state that 25 A List players can be selected for the group stage. An unlimited number of B List players can be added later on and that will allow for Josh Acheampong, Tyrique George, and Romeo Lavia to play despite not being initially included here.

In a statement, UEFA said: “The squad list submitted fulfilled the criteria of the settlement agreement and it was therefore already reviewed and approved before publication on UEFA's website.”

Chelsea's first Champions League match is in just under two weeks, away to Bayern Munich, where they will come up against Jackson after his dramatic deadline day loan.Enzo Maresca will have access to all but one of his new signings for that clash.

Facundo Buonanotte has not made the cut despite claiming he was excited to play in the Champions League upon his Chelsea unveiling. Liam Delap, Estevao Willian, Dario Essugo, Andrey Santos, Jorrel Hato, Alejandro Garnacho, Joao Pedro, and Jamie Gittens have all been added.

Chelsea will be able to make three changes to this squad after the league phase in January, should they progress. The club have had to be careful with their spending, especially at the end of the window, as they attempted to balance sales and new players to meet UEFA's demands.

In early July, UEFA announced a settlement reached with Chelsea after having "reported a squad cost ratio above 80% for 2024 (transitional threshold set for 2024)." UEFA added: "All clubs further agreed to be subject to a restriction on the registration of new players on their List A for UEFA club competitions.

"Such a measure could be conditional, unconditional or both and covers one or more seasons depending on the length of the settlement." Chelsea will also be working towards their squad cost ratio figure as they aim to avoid future issues.

A response to the UEFA sanction at the time read: "The club has worked closely and transparently with UEFA to provide a full and detailed breakdown of its financial reporting, which indicates that the financial performance of the Club is on a strong upwards trajectory.

"Chelsea FC greatly values its relationship with UEFA and considered it important to bring this matter to a swift conclusion by entering into a settlement agreement."