The storm clouds gathering over Chelsea’s recent youth deals are getting darker. Matt Law in The Telegraph is reporting that a certain amount of unnamed Premier League clubs are demanding an investigation into Chelsea’s acquisition of then-15 year-old Andreas Christensen in 2012.
Demanding, I says!
(Ed.speculation: considering that Spurs were the only team to object to Steve Holland’s dual role with Chelsea and England a couple years ago — not to mention Law’s usual sources when it comes to covering London teams — it would not surprise me to learn that Spurs are one of these clubs.)
Premier League clubs want Chelsea investigated over Andreas Christensen transfer claims, reports @Matt_Law_DT https://t.co/51qY3hYrwR
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) November 19, 2018
The demand seems a bit like beating a dead horse, since the league had already issued a statement saying it would do exactly that if it finds evidence of rule breaking.
“Should we receive any substantiated material that suggests our rules may have been breached, we will of course investigate and have a track record of doing so.”
The only “evidence” so far is the hacked data released through Football Leaks, which supposedly show that Chelsea paid Andreas Christensen’s father for scouting services that were never actually rendered. Instead, the more than £600k paid over four years possibly amounts to little more than an incentive for the parents to secure the young player’s signature. Making such payments is against Premier League regulations.
Chelsea issued a terse statement about these latest allegations, which follow FIFA’s confirmation that the investigation launched in September 2017 regarding Chelsea’s (and several others club’s) transfer of under-18 players was still ongoing as well.
“We do not comment on speculation concerning confidential contracts or player related matters.”
Chelsea getting named in these cases is not a good look, but we’re just the latest high profile team to take a turn at the end of FIFA or Premier League probes. Whatever punishment may or may not be handed down, one would’ve hoped Chelsea would’ve learned our lesson to conduct everything above board after the whole Gaël Kakuta saga.