Chelsea announce annual loss of more than £120m

Chelsea have reported a net loss of £121.3m for 2021-22.

The club say the “extraordinary expenses and loss of revenue” caused by the sanctions imposed by the government on former owner Roman Abramovich following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had a major impact.

The loss was suffered despite an overall rise in turnover from £434.9m to £481.3m compared with the previous year.

The sanctions meant Chelsea were not allowed to sell tickets and operational spending was also halted prior to the takeover by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital at the end of May.

Chelsea expect some of those limitations to last “in the coming years due to the long-term impact from restrictions on entering into new contractual arrangements”.

During the financial period, the club spent £118m on players but made an overall profit of £123.2m after selling the likes of Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Kurt Zouma and Marc Guehi.