But yes, PSR is to blame, and it has nothing to do with “selling to balance the books”. They truly didn’t believe Conor had what it took to be the long term starter in the style they wanted to play, and if he wasn’t the starter, he CAN’T make what he felt he was worth. He turned down the long extension offered in 2022. Without PSR would Chelsea have paid him 200k per week to have his leadership in the building and let him push for a starting spot? Yes. They are investing Billions in infrastructure and staff unaffected by PSR. They want an elite team. But PSR is about to lower the sending bar two more times. Get stuck with even a few players wrong in terms of high pay packets vs performance and you are washed.

The people that actually know, not the ex footballers sitting around the table obsessed with their teams staying in power, were easily able to predict these results and worse from a PSR system.