Man Utd have exposed Premier League's 'scandalous' decision to fine Chelsea just £11m

Manchester United suffered from financial and sporting punishments as a result of Chelsea’s Premier League rule breaches.

Last week, Premier League rivals Chelsea were given a suspended one-year transfer ban, fined £11 million and given a nine-month academy transfer ban for historical Premier League breaches.

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly self-reported the historical breaches, which refer to over £47million of undisclosed payments made by the Blues under former owner Roman Abramovich between 2011 and 2018.

The payments were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties, including former United target Eden Hazard.

As per The Times, United missed out on signing Hazard in 2012 because the Red Devils refused to make a backhand payment to the player’s agent. An offshore payment of £6m made by Abramovich to Hazard’s agent was investigated.

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United in Focus have spoken exclusively to football finance expert Adam Williams on how Abramovich and Chelsea’s spending impacted United between the years of 2011 and 2018.

Not only did United miss out on targets such as Hazard, but Williams argues that it also influenced decisions such as the Glazer takeover.

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“Abramovich’s arrival in the Premier League was one of the great sliding doors moments of modern football history. It kickstarted this insane inflationary spiral, where giants like Man United had to ramp up spending to compete on the pitch and essentially maintain their market share in the face of foreign capital,” Williams said.

“Without Abramovich, I think you could make an argument that the Glazers wouldn’t have taken outright control of United. You also probably wouldn’t have had the influx of sovereign wealth from the Gulf or the massive private equity groups with which the Premier League is now awash.

“If United had signed Hazard in 2012, who knows how history might have changed. He’s a player who could win titles. And essentially, United missed out on him because Abramovich’s representatives were making off-the-books payments to Hazard’s people. It’s cheating, plain and simple.

“The Premier League have acknowledged that, but the punishment doesn’t at all fit the crime, in my view. Legally speaking, the experts say a small fine is pretty specious. Morally, it’s scandalous. How can they argue that there was no sporting advantages gained by signing one of the all-time Premier League greats through illicit means?

“United were reportedly encouraged to make the same kind of offer but declined. On a self-interested level, there might be a tiny part in their behind-the-scenes team at the time that wishes that they had.

“If they had known they would only have got an £11m fine, there are executives out there who would simply have seen that as a cost of doing business. Clearly, they did the right thing by refusing, but the counterfactual here sort of proves the absurdity of the Premier League’s judgement.“

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What Eden Hazard said about failed Man United move

United came extremely close to signing Hazard in 2012. In fact, Hazard revealed he had talks with Sir Alex Ferguson before eventually making his move to Chelsea.

Speaking to The Telegraph in 2012, Hazard explained why his United move fell through:

“I’ve always said I wanted to play in England. There was a struggle between Chelsea and United, but according to me, Chelsea has the best project,” Hazard said.

“I was in advanced contact with both clubs, and I spoke to both coaches. I want to be playing in the Champions League every year.

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“When they won the Champions League, I told myself: ‘Why not Chelsea?’ The team is young and I have a better chance to play there.”

But Hazard also spoke about the influence that Abramovich had on the deal… “I spoke with Abramovich, he is very simple and loves football,” he said. “We were on the same wavelength, he wants to confirm Chelsea’s position at the top. Chelsea have made a good investment for me but I did not put any pressure on them.”

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