But despite presenting a united front, the two powerbrokers are still vying to take the club in their own direction in a saga which is expected to end in regime change at Stamford Bridge.

Thankfully, the Boehly and Eghbali remain committed to keeping things professional and their dispute is not affecting performances, with Chelsea unbeaten under Enzo Maresca so far.

However, while a handful of competitive performances may paper over financial and operational issues for a short while, big questions still need to be answered in SW6.

Financial projections show that Chelsea are set to announce a loss of around £97m for 2023-24, while player amortisation – how clubs account for transfer fees over time – will stand at £158m.

The scale of Chelsea’s losses in recent years mean that, although the club has always maintained it has complied with spending rules, a rush to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) is inevitable.

With that in mind, many analysts are baffled at the continued absence of a front-of-shirt sponsor.

But that could soon be set to change.

Chelsea in talks with three airlines over front-of-shirt deal

Just as they did last season, Chelsea have begun 2024-25 without a front-of-shirt sponsor.

This is a big deal. A front-of-shirt sponsors is typically the most valuable property in a club’s commercial portfolio, and Chelsea’s commercial income is worth £200m-plus per season.

Failing to secure a deal in time for shirts to be printed and with five matches now having passed, the value of the rights has fallen.

However, after reports that Chelsea were in talks with Qatar Airways over a potential deal, business journalist Łukasz Bączek is now reporting that Saudi airline Riyadh Air and Turkish Airlines also in the mix.

For the sake of their PSR calculation and their commercial reputation, Chelsea will hope that the competition for their rights can drive up the final value of the rights.

Last season’s deal with Infinite Athlete was worth a reported £40m, but Chelsea are said to have their sights set higher for the current campaign.

Can Chelsea comply with PSR?

It looks like compliance with PSR will be very difficult.

The Premier League is moving to a new system from next season, but for the current period will not allow Chelsea’s financial losses over the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons to exceed £105m.

The club lost £90m in 2022-23 alone and with a circa £97m loss for 2023-24 forecasted, it is difficult to see how the club can be so confident of compliance this season.

Yes, the league’s ratification of the sale of two on-site hotels to another company within the Chelsea network for £98m will help, as will PSR-allowable deductions for infrastructure and academy investment.

But even with those considerations and other PSR-busting sleights of hand taken into account, it looks like the margins are very tight.

And compliance with UEFA’s system, which will limit Chelsea to spending 80 per cent of revenue on wages, transfers and agent fees this year, will be even more difficult.

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