OFFICIAL: Chelsea sent UEFA message over Garnacho BAN after transfer controversy

Robin Bairner

• 4 Sept 2025 12:30 BST
• 5 min read

News

Chelsea have been sent an official message by UEFA after they were threatened that new recruits such as Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens would not be allowed to play in the Champions League this season.

The Blues were fined €31 million in July after failing to comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, but were also warned that failure to make a profit in the transfer market from players in their Conference League squad last season would result in any new additions being ineligible to play in the Champions League this term.

When the squads for that competition were displayed on UEFA’s website, new Chelsea signings Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Jorrel Hato and, of course, Garnacho were all listed as part of Enzo Maresca’s group.

Current ETV

Alejandro Garnacho

AM (C)

Chelsea

Alejandro Garnacho

AM (C)

Chelsea

€58.1M

ETV Range

€52.3M - €63.9M

View full profile

UEFA have since sent out a message to confirm that Chelsea comply with the regulations.

European football’s governing body states: “The squad list submitted fulfilled the criteria of the settlement agreement and it was therefore already reviewed and approved before publication on UEFA's website.”

Chelsea’s impressive transfer window

Although Chelsea spent a whopping €325m in the transfer market this summer, these signings were offset by even more coming back to Stamford Bridge in terms of sales.

Indeed, the Blues posted a net profit in the transfer window. Key to this was an ability to offload many players in the €20-40m bracket, with eight stars going for around this price.

Noni Madueke’s €56m sale to Arsenal played a critical role in Chelsea balancing the books and complying with UEFA’s regulations.

The Blues work in the transfer window was largely overshadowed by Premier League rivals Liverpool, who twice broke the British transfer record, and Arsenal, who had the biggest net spend in world football.

Having been given the green light by UEFA, Chelsea will now hope to build on their Club World Cup success in the summer with a deep run in the Champions League, and they will crucially have all their new recruits to help them.

Chelsea summer 2025 transfers

Chelsea summer signings

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