Chelsea manager: Premier League PSR rules must change to ‘protect’ academy players
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has urged the Premier League to change its PSR rules if it wants to incentivise clubs to retain the young players they have developed.
The Blues have been criticised for selling off homegrown talent in order to balance the books after spending more than £1bn on new signings in just two years.
Trading academy graduates can help clubs to meet Premier League profitability and sustainability rules (PSRs) as they represent pure profit in accounting terms.
Asked whether the PSR rules needed changing, Maresca said: “If they want to protect academy players, then probably yes.
“This is not Chelsea’s problem – these are the rules. All the clubs at this moment are compelled to sell players from the academy because of the rules. It’s all of the Premier League clubs’ problems.
“It’s a shame because in Italy, we have [Francesco] Totti with Roma, 20 years with the same club. We love that in football, the fans want to see that. But with the rules now it is different than the past.
“It is not only Chelsea spending money on players. It’s all the big clubs. Some spend more, some spend less. My personal opinion is it’s a shame because we like to see a one club man but the rules are different.”
Chelsea and Maresca are set to sell another academy graduate this week when Conor Gallagher joins Atletico Madrid for £34m.
They have come under pressure to raise money through sales after spending more than £1bn on new signings since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium took over in 2022.
Gallagher is poised to become the 11th first-team player nurtured in Chelsea’s youth ranks to leave or be offloaded in that time.