UEFA to close loophole in wake of Chelsea's record £460m splurge on new signings after complaints from Premier League rivals, with a five-year limit for the spread of transfer fees to be introduced from next summer

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UEFA are set to close the loophole which has enabled Chelsea to spread the cost of their record transfer spending over up to eight years after receiving complaints from other Premier League clubs. 

Sportsmail revealed last Saturday that a number of Chelsea's top-flight rivals had accused the club of attempting to cheat FFP regulations by using amortisation to spread the cost of Mykhailo Mudryk's £88million fee over eight years for accounting purposes.

FIFA statutes already set five years as the maximum contract length, but exceptions are permitted, which Chelsea have utilised to defer much of the cost of the record £460million transfer spending since Todd Boehly bought the club last July. 

Recent £88m signing Mykhaylo Mudryk signed the Premier League's longest contract ever

In addition to Mudryk, who signed the longest contract in the history of the Premier League, French defender Benoit Badiashile and Ivory Coast striker David Datro Fofana both signed six-and-a-half year deals this month after the arrivals of Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella on seven and six-year contracts respectively last summer.

Having been alerted to what appears to be a clear trend by other clubs UEFA have reacted, and are planning to set a five-year limit for the time over which a player's transfer fee can be spread from next summer. 

The rule change will not affect Chelsea's recent signings, but is likely to limit their room for manouvre in subsequent transfer windows.

The Premier League side have splashed out £460m under co-owner Todd Boehly

Chelsea's lavish spending over the summer and January transfer windows has shattered records, with the figure of £460m already the highest in the world and the highest in Premier League history, and expected to rise further.

The previous record was set by Manchester City, who spent £328.1 million in 2017-18.

Chelsea have been able to add to their squad while also keeping within Financial Fair Play rules