Chelsea wage bill soars to £285m up 17 per cent and Antonio Conte sacking cost them £26m as 2019 accounts are published
CHELSEA'S wage bill has soared to an incredible £285million a year, up 17 per cent - while the sacking of Antonio Conte sacking cost the club £26m.
The incredible pair of revelations came to light on Tuesday morning after the club's accounts for 2019 were published.
The Blues are now forking out an extraordinary amount on wages - with only five clubs in Europe's Big Five league above them.
Barcelona (£438m), Manchester United (£332m), Manchester City (£315m), Real Madrid (£312m) and Paris Saint-Germain (£290m) are the only teams paying more.
But Stamford Bridge officials will likely be even more frustrated by losing £26m just to offload former boss Conte in 2018.
After two years and one Premier League title at Chelsea, Conte was given the boot in the summer of 2018, replaced by Maurizio Sarri - who lasted just a year himself.
Conte threatened to take the club to the High Court in order to recoup monies owed - but Chelsea argued the boss' behaviour in the final year of his contract essentially nullified it.
The former boss was hoping to land around £9m, but he and his sacked coaching team were paid a sky-high £26m when all was said and done.
Chelsea could argue it was money well spent, as ultimately it led them to Frank Lampard - who is leading the club into a bright future with a host of talented youngster on the books.
The likes of Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi have already committed their long-term future to Stamford Bridge.
And Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham and Reece James look set to follow suit in the coming months.
Chelsea have now had their two-window transfer ban reduced to just one and are now able to start buying players again.
There's little doubt as to who the board would rather have in charge between Conte and Lampard.
Meanwhile, the Italian could land a double-blow on his old club, as he hopes to steal Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso away from Stamford Bridge.