Chelsea In Trouble With EPL Over Willian, Eto’o’s Transfers

The Premier League is looking into Willian and Samuel Eto’o’s transfers as part of its investigation into potential financial rule violations by Chelsea.

The charges “do not relate to any individual who is presently at the club,” and they “pre-date the current ownership,” according to Chelsea’s owners.

Chelsea was fined £8.6 million by Uefa in July for “submitting incomplete financial information” between 2012 and 2019, which violated the Financial Fair Play regulations.

After Todd Boehly and the Clearlake group bought the club in May 2022, they reportedly notified the Premier League of the aforementioned infraction.

According to the Times, the transfers of Willian of Brazil and Eto’o of Cameroon are the focus of an ongoing Premier League investigations.

Recall that the two players joined Chelsea when Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich was the owner of the club (from 2003 to 2022).

Willian who is now playing for Premier League club, Fulham joined Chelsea from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala in 2013 for a transfer fee worth €35.50 million.

Also, Samuel Eto’o who is now the FA president of Cameroon, joined the West London club from Anzhi Makhachkala in 2013 on a free transfer.

While explaining the problem the club currently has with the Premier League, Chelsea said in a statement: “These allegations pre-date the club’s current ownership. They concern entities that were allegedly controlled by the club’s former owner and do not relate to any individual who is presently at the club.

“Chelsea FC’s ownership group completed its purchase of the club on May 30, 2022.

“During a thorough due diligence process before completion of the purchase, the ownership group became aware of potentially incomplete financial reporting concerning historical transactions during the club’s previous ownership.

“Immediately following the completion of the purchase, the club proactively self-reported these matters to all applicable football regulators.

“By the club’s ownership group’s core principles of full compliance and transparency, the club has proactively assisted the applicable regulators with their investigations and will continue to do so.”