UEFA to impose five-year limit on spreading cost of transfer fees

UEFA is set to close a loophole on Wednesday allowing clubs to spread the cost of big transfer fees over lengthy contracts.

English Premier League side Chelsea caught the eye over the last two transfer windows by signing players on long deals, including tying January recruits Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez - a British record signing at £107m/€125m - to eight-and-a-half-year contracts.

The Blues have done so in order to spread the cost of the transfer fee over a greater period of time and comply with UEFA's financial regulations, something which is currently permitted.

However, it is understood that UEFA’s executive committee will update the regulations when it meets on Wednesday. It is expected there will be no limit on the length of a contract, but the cost of any transfer fee will have to be spread over a maximum of five years.

Chelsea spent £323m (€375m) in the January transfer window alone - more than the entire Serie A, LaLiga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 clubs combined - but finished 12th in the table.

The Exco will not re-examine UEFA’s policies on multi-club ownership when it meets this week, despite it becoming an increasingly contentious and controversial issue in the game.

However, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) is meeting this week to examine individual cases where there could be a conflict under existing multi-club ownership rules in its competitions next season.

The CFCB is understood to be looking at Brighton and Belgian club Union St Gilloise, who have each qualified for next season’s Europa League and are both owned by Tony Bloom, and also Toulouse and AC Milan, who are owned by US-based investment firm RedBird Capital.

A decision from the CFCB is expected towards the end of the week.

Away from