Winning the Carabao Cup would give Chelsea a spot in the Conference League — meaning that they would have to comply with UEFA's version of the Financial Fair Play, which is a lot stricter than the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules.
According to FFP, a club can only lose up to £68.5m over the previous two years, not £105m over the previous three years.
Besides, UEFA has already implemented new rules on player amortisation at a maximum of five years, even if their contract is seven or eight years.
As a result, the total cost of players signed last summer rises from £59.4m to £80.9m per year, following the UEFA rules.
So, Chelsea's expenses increases by £21.5m, while the maximum amount they could lose to participate in European competition decreases by £36.5m.
Finance expert Kieran Maguire even suggests that Chelsea might be better off skipping the Conference League even if they qualify.
He told The Athletic: "By the time you pay the players’ bonuses for qualifying for the competition, transport, accommodation and other costs, you’re only making a small amount of money from the Conference League. You’ll struggle to get a decent number of fans to attend Stamford Bridge if the opposition is modest. That isn’t a criticism of them. It’s modern-day economics.
"If they are exceeding the UEFA limits, the question becomes: ‘Do we want to go and play in the Conference League next season?’. Because they won’t make any money from it."
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