Chelsea are entering a critical moment in their history.
After the flush transfer spending and silverware conveyor belt of the Roman Abramovich era, there is now an air of uncertainty surrounding Stamford Bridge with their ownership set to change hands.
That’s because the Russian billionaire who has been pullings the strings since 2003 remarkably announced as part of an official statement that he would be selling the Premier League giants.
Abramovich puts Chelsea up for sale
Abramovich explained on Chelsea’s official website earlier this week: “I would like to address the speculation in media over the past few days in relation to my ownership of Chelsea FC.
“As I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the Club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the Club’s sponsors and partners.
“The sale of the Club will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process. I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid. This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and Club.”
Financial change at Chelsea
There can be no escaping the fact that Abramovich’s announcement marks a moment of reflection for Chelsea, who will soon progress into a new and uncertain era for the first time in almost two decades.
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss has been one of the names bounded around the most to replace Abramovich as Chelsea owner, but any deal would prove a difficult one when the asking price is reportedly as high as £4 billion
However, no matter how the economic, political and financial strands unravel in the coming weeks and months, one thing we can do is take stock of the state that Chelsea’s new owner will find the club in.
Player earnings at Chelsea
And one of the biggest expenses when it comes to the playing staff at Stamford Bridge is – of course – the wages of the men’s first team because Champions League-winning footballers don’t come cheap.
Sure, the new owner will have to dig deep into their wallets to secure the types of transfers that Blues fans are hungry for, but that’s ultimately secondary to balancing the wage bill that already exists at the club.
And while there would obviously be no threat of Abramovich’s replacement not being able to foot the bill, the incoming hierarchy might well want to deep-dive into the structure of Chelsea players’ salaries.
“Could Roman keep Chelsea?” (Football Terrace)
Chelsea player wages (2021/22)
So, bearing that in mind, it felt like a natural moment to press pause and take a closer look at how the wages of Chelsea’s Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup winners are shaping up.
In the interest of consistency, we’re taking all our data from spotrac and ranking every current 2021/22 Chelsea men’s player for which they have salary information from the lowest-paid to the highest-earner.
Got it? Right then, well, be sure to check out the reported wages of the current Chelsea first team as they edge towards a new post-Abramovich era down below:
22. Charly Musonda – £42,000-a-week
21. Edouard Mendy – £52,000-a-week
20. Reece James – £58,000-a-week
19. Ruben Loftus-Cheek – £60,000-a-week
18. Andreas Christensen – £80,000-a-week
17. Mason Mount – £88,462-a-week
=14. Hakim Ziyech – £100,000-a-week
=14. Antonio Rudiger – £100,000-a-week
=14. Marcos Alonso – £100,000-a-week
13. Thiago Silva – £105,000-a-week
12. Jorginho – £110,000-a-week
11. Callum Hudson-Odoi – £120,000-a-week
=7. Christian Pulisic – £150,000-a-week
=7. Mateo Kovacic – £150,000-a-week
=7. Kai Havertz – £150,000-a-week
=7. Cesar Azpilicueta – £150,000-a-week
6. Kepa Arrizabalaga – £155,000-a-week
5. Ben Chilwell – £190,000-a-week
4. Saul Niguez – £198,269-a-week (on loan from Atletico Madrid)
3. Timo Werner – £272,000-a-week
2. N’Golo Kante – £290,000-a-week
- Romelu Lukaku – £325,000-a-week
Fascinating data
Goodness me. I should have been a footballer…
While there are certainly clubs who have more eye-watering wage bills than Chelsea, there’s no denying that they pay good money for the high-profile players that they bring through the door.
However, as is the case across football and workplaces in general, the wage structure doesn’t necessarily align perfectly with how much the players contribute on the pitch.
Fans would be forgiven for thinking that players like Kepa, Werner and Pulisic are a touch overpaid within the context of Rudiger, James, Mount and Mendy earning considerably less.
But who knows, maybe one of the first jobs on the agenda for any Abramovich 2.0 would be to dish out some new contracts because it couldn’t be any clear that Chelsea’s squad is stacked with quality.
And that calibre of talent doesn’t come cheap, so whoever buys Chelsea off Abramovich and duly ends the ‘Roman Empire’ will most certainly have to put their money where their mouth is.
After all, Blues fans have come to love the taste of silverware – and won’t want to lose it.
