Chelsea's model is working - but they are ruining careers in the process

Analysis

Tom Weber | Writer

Chelsea are set to turn another profit with the sale of Marc Guiu to RB Leipzig, but it may take some time for his career to recover from his spell in England.

The 20-year-old is one of the countless young players the Blues have signed since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital takeover in 2022, and now he is set to become one of the countless young players to be sold without having made much of an impact in West London.

He arrived as a market opportunity. Chelsea triggered Guiu's €6 million release clause at Barcelona in 2024, despite the fact that he only had seven senior appearances under his belt. Two years and fewer than 1,200 minutes of football later, the Spaniard is set to move to Leipzig.

On Friday evening, a full agreement was reached between the clubs, with Sky Germany reporting that Leipzig will pay less than €20 million for the striker. It is not quite what Chelsea had hoped for - they initially wanted closer to €30m - but it's nevertheless a healthy profit.

The Guiu sale is further proof that Chelsea's controversial player trading model is working. Sporting success may be lacking, but business is booming, with the Blues recording eye-watering profits on unwanted stars.

Chelsea's model is working - unfortunately

With the way football accounting works, this allows Chelsea to keep spending equally eye-watering sums on incomings despite almost constant underperformance in recent years.

Handing players seven- or eight-year contracts to protect their value has had the desired effect. It allows Chelsea to sell their flops at premium fees even when they have done absolutely nothing to warrant it.

Just look at Liam Delap. Chelsea turned a €17m profit on a striker who scored one Premier League goal last season. Or let's look at Nicolas Jackson. He is undeniably a better player, but Chelsea's profit on him can rise as high as €55.5m after selling him to Aston Villa - that's ridiculous!

They also turned a €43.8m profit on Andrey Santos, who was surplus to requirements. It follows last summer, when Chelsea made a €21m plus on Noni Madueke, €12.9m on Djordje Petrovic and €14.5m on Renato Veiga.

Of course, not all of Chelsea's transfers have been so financially successful, but they repeatedly get bailed out by clubs that are ready to pay over the odds for their flops. Increasingly, the clubs willing to do so hail exclusively from the Premier League.

This summer, England's top flight has begun to resemble a cartel, with clubs trading players between themselves for huge fees to keep money within the league. This is a natural tendency in a fairly unregulated market, but it's damaging for the future of European football.

Chelsea's stockpiling of talent is also hugely detrimental to the careers of players. Leipzig accept that Guiu may not hit the ground running because he has "missed important playing time during his development phase," in the words of reporter Philipp Hinze.

Remember Mathis Amougou? Of course, you don't. He was signed by Chelsea after impressing at Saint-Etienne in early 2025. The 20-year-old was sold to sister club Strasbourg six months later and has played 800 minutes of football since leaving ASSE.

There are now reports in France that he could be sold by Strasbourg in the final days of the window, as he will likely struggle for minutes again this season. Chelsea aren't unique in this, but the sheer volume of these cases is remarkable.

And they keep getting away with it. Young players keep signing for the club with the lure of decent salaries and the potential of playing in the Premier League. Chelsea are gaming a broken system. They're not doing anything wrong, but it's a vicious cycle, and one that simply can't be healthy for the sport.