Chelsea last night refused to accept any blame
for driving up fees and wages and causing football’s debt
mountain.
“When a player was being
sold, if we were interested then the price doubled. The problem is
that everyone wants to charge Chelsea more than anyone
else. “The guy that delivers the milk, the guy that sells us
pencils, clubs that sell us players. We have resisted that. In
August we resisted with Robinho and said ‘no’. That price was too
high.”
Football Association
chairman Lord Triesman sent shockwaves through football when he
revealed English football is sitting on a financial black hole of
£3billion of potential debts. Spiralling fees and wages that have
caused such debt have led many to point the finger at Chelsea and
their owner Roman Abramovich – especially with his early seasons of
massive spending.
More than £100million
was spent on new players in that period – and more than £600m on
the club in all over the past five years. Chelsea are among the
most indebted of English clubs, owing some £736m. But they owe that
to Abramovich and not to the banks.
Buck claimed that their
debt was ‘irrelevant’ – just as UEFA general secretary David Taylor
warned that clubs with excessive borrowing might be thrown out of
the Champions League and UEFA Cup. Taylor wants to prevent clubs’
borrowing spiralling out of control and said: “We will not flinch
if we have to exclude clubs from Europe’s elite competition.”
However, unlike some of
their rivals, Chelsea do not have any external debt and Buck
insists the club have not simply hoarded “a bunch of galacticos”
but were instead looking to identify and develop English
talent.
Buck said: “One of our
priorities is finding young English players. “They settle more
quickly and understand the culture and dynamics of the English
game. Money goes a long way but it doesn’t necessarily get you over
the line.”