Premier League looks to ban FFP loophole after Chelsea's spending spree

The Premier League is looking to put a ban to an FFP loophole exploited by Chelsea FC in its pursuit of signing midfielder Moises Caicedo, as the club continues to splash money in a bid for a major rebuild amid the start of the new season.

The West London-based club after long speculations, completed the signing of Ecuadorian midfielder Moises Caicedo from Brighton, for a record fee of 115 million pounds, which could make him the most expensive signing in the league so far.

The initial fee of 100 million pounds, plus 15 million pounds in add-ons, surpasses the 106 million pounds the club paid Benfica for Argentine World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez earlier this January.

Chelsea are also reported to sign Romeo Lavia from Southampton, in a move that could see the Blues snatch the midfielder away from Liverpool who were long in pursuit for the Belgian international.

The BBC reported that Chelsea agreed a fee of 53 million pounds for the 19-year-old. This would mean that the club would have spent well over 800 million pounds, since American billionaire Todd Boehly took over the club last May after Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's assets in Britain were frozen by the UK government following his country's invasion of Ukraine.

Chelsea have been able to spend such an outrageous amount of money on players, without flouting the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, thanks to a loophole in the Premier League rules.

Since Boehly's takeover, the club has been handing out long-term contracts spanning over 8-9 years in order to spread the costs. According to a report in the Sport Bible, this is a form of creative accounting which is utilised to balance the books by slowly writing off the initial costs of players over the course of their deal.

Though the UEFA had announced that clubs will be allowed to offer long deals to players, by limiting the spread of costs of fees to a five-year period, the Premier League did not make such a move.

Chelsea have also been able to get away with this, as the club will not be playing in Europe this season, following an abysmal one last time around, which saw the club finish in 12th spot.

This loophole has been flagged by several other clubs in the league and is all set to be discussed at the shareholders' meeting this season.

The anomaly in accounting rules has been raised with the Premier League by several clubs and is set to be discussed at shareholders' meetings this season, with a view to a rule change being introduced for next season, according to Mail Sport.

Speaking to the publication, a Premier League source familiar with the matter said, "This hasn't been discussed formally, but is something we will look at. Alignment with UEFA rules would make sense for all parties. The only club currently handing out eight-year contracts on a regular basis is likely to be involved in UEFA competitions soon, as are any others that follow suit."

Chelsea started their Premier League campaign last Sunday against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, which ended up in a 1-1 draw at their home ground, Stamford Bridge.