Troubled times: Carlo Ancelotti has no funds
available for new players
Carlo Ancelotti, without a win in five Premier League
matches, will not be allowed to bolster Chelsea's faltering title
hopes by adding to his squad in the January transfer
window.
Chelsea will announce in the new year that the club lost
£40million last season despite winning the League and FA Cup
Double.
Only if owner Roman Abramovich has a major change of heart and
subsidises a new signing will Ancelotti be able to bring in new
blood next month. And the Italian has been told that such an
about-turn is not on the agenda.
The lack of funds will further frustrate a manager who is
expected by Abramovich to improve on last season's performance,
despite having to operate with a squad that captain John Terry
admits is weaker than the one that completed the Double.
Ancelotti, who has insisted that despite recent injuries he
cannot blood his youngsters at such a time of crisis, now faces
Arsenal in a vital match tomorrow knowing that his principal rivals
for the titles - Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal -
have significant funds to strengthen in January.
City will make a further move for £35m Wolfsburg striker Edin
Dzeko, while United are monitoring Liverpool's £20m goalkeeper,
Pepe Reina, and Atletico Madrid's £15m David de Gea, as Arsenal
contemplate a £10m move for Bolton centre-half Gary Cahill.
Deep pockets: But Roman Abramovich will not fund
extra player purchases
But potential Chelsea moves for a new striker, such as
City's unsettled Carlos Tevez or Liverpool's Fernando Torres -
either of whom would cost £40m - or for Benfica centre-half David
Luiz, who is valued at £25m, are seemingly impossible.
Despite enjoying an historic season in 2009/10, Chelsea's
financial figures are unlikely to see a significant change from the
previous year's loss of £44.4m, taking the total amount of losses
since Abramovich took over seven years ago to more than £500m.
The Russian has committed to reducing the club's annual deficits
ever since announcing a record loss for a football club of £140.2m
in 2005.
Chief executive Ron Gourlay has already told players, in a team
meeting at the start of the season, not to expect major signings,
as the club are now expected to generate their own transfer funds
through sales rather than rely on hand-outs from Abramovich.
Gourlay has been instituting a number of economies this season,
which included refusing to renew the contracts of Joe Cole and
Michael Ballack and cutting the win bonuses of some players.
Chelsea need to show UEFA they are making progress in reducing
their losses from next season. Europe's ruling body will monitor
club accounts as part of new financial fair play regulations.
Expensive luxury: Joe Cole was one of the players
to leave Stamford Bridge after the Double victory
Any club making persistent losses, such as Chelsea and
Manchester City have done, will be banned from the Champions League
from 2013.
Chelsea are confident recent cutbacks and improved sponsorship
deals negotiated by Gourlay, including an eight-year kit deal with
adidas worth potentially £30m a year, mean the deficit will be
considerably reduced by the time the new regulations come in.
The rules will permit clubs to incur exceptional losses of
around £38.5m in the two years running up to the 2013/14 season, if
they are underwritten by shareholders and owners. The measures
Chelsea have taken mean they should meet those criteria.
But to do so would mean continuing to run a steady financial
ship until the club can significantly increase their income.
