The Premier League are set to introduce a new change to their transfer rules which will have a significant impact on Chelsea.
The Blues have spent heavily under Todd Boehly's co-ownership, splashing out over £1 billion on incoming transfers since his arrival last year.
Boehly's ownership group have targeted a transfer policy primarily geared towards signing younger players and developing them over long-term contracts.
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Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk both signed eight-and-a-half year deals when they arrived at Stamford Bridge in January, while Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke are amongst a group that have signed seven or eight-year contracts.
They have used a technique known as player amortisation in order to complete the signings. Because transfer fees are spread out evenly across a player's contract, signing those players to longer contracts means smaller payments across more intervals - thus helping the club to ensure they comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
However, as per The Athletic's David Ornstein, the Premier League voted at a shareholder's meeting on Tuesday to change the rules in regards to player amortisation.
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They have voted to 'limit the period over which transfer fees can be amortised in their accounts' to five years, irrespective of the length of a player's contract.
However, the change will not apply to transfers that have already been completed - meaning previous Chelsea transfers will not be affected.
In a statement, the Premier League have said: "Premier League Shareholders today agreed to amend the rule on amortisation of player registration costs to bring in line with UEFA's regulations.
"Going forward, a five-year maximum will apply to all new or extended player contracts.
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"Clubs also approved a rule amendment to enable the Premier League Board, in circumstances where a Club owes a transfer debt to another Premier League or EFL Club, to stop the Club registering more players until the outstanding payment has been made.
"The Board can also have the option to deduct the amount from the Club's entitlement to the League's central funds."
The Premier League have followed a similar path to UEFA, who also reduced the amortisation length to five years in the summer.
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Chelsea are not the only team to have used the technique in the past. According to the Manchester Evening News, Manchester United devised a six-year payment plan to sign Harry Maguire from Leicester for £80 million.
While Chelsea are not immediately impacted by the rule change, it could have a significant impact on any future transfer deals, particularly in terms of FFP regulations.
After Sunday's 2-0 defeat to Everton, manager Mauricio Pochettino called on the club to do business in January after slipping into the bottom half of the table.
He said (quotes via Sky Sports): "After the first half of the season, we need to check. That is the reality. If we are not receiving enough, maybe we need to do some movement."
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"When the transfer market opens, we will see what we need to do."
Featured Image Credit: GettyTopics: Premier League, Chelsea, Manchester United, FFP, Todd Boehly