Chelsea named second highest-paid club in the Premier League by FIFA for releasing players for World Cup 2022

Chelsea have emerged as the second highest-paid Premier League club by FIFA as part of the benefits of releasing players for the World Cup that was staged in Qatar last year.

European and Premier League Champions Manchester City were the most rewarded club in the world, receiving a staggering $4.60m (£3.54m) from the world governing body. Pep Guardiola’s side had 15 players at the tournament with 13 of them making it through to the knockout stage and one winning it, Argentine Julián Álvarez.

Chelsea had 14 players who participated in the World Cup and could have had at least two more but for the injuries to Ben Chilwell and Reece James. The difference between the Blues and City was that, most of their players made it to the late stages of the competition.

Chelsea took home £2.51m, the same as Manchester United and following in fourth in the Premier League was Tottenham who took home £2.18m, with Liverpool earning £1.86m, making the top five clubs in the Premier League based on FIFA cash distribution.

Worth adding that Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez who is now at Chelsea played their entire career as a Benfica player so his generation was awarded to the Portuguese club.

As part of FIFA’s Club Benefits Programme, every club with a player at the World Cup was entitled to compensation for each day that player was involved in the tournament in Qatar, with a total of $209m (£160.90m) distributed to clubs across the world.

Chelsea who have raised almost £200million in player sales this summer would be delighted with the additional cash that will make a difference in shaping their squad ahead of next season.