How Chelsea’s strict wage rules gave them advantage over Aston Villa in £52m transfer deal

Chelsea have just sold Noni Madueke to Arsenal for £52m. Chelsea will be delighted with that fee, but the Gunners were happy to pay it.

Chelsea reap rewards of tight wage structure

Noni Madueke completes Arsenal move.

As Matt Law explained on the London is Blue podcast, that’s because they didn’t have to pay a crazy wage to the winger. They were able to offer him a boost over his Chelsea money without breaking the bank.

“Arsenal, £55m for Madueke looks quite a lot for Arsenal to pay. But in terms of the overall package with the wages, I think that will be very attractive to Arsenal because the wages are relatively low in comparison to a lot of other players of that ilk,” Law explained.

“He was only on £70,000 a week”, presenter Nick Verlaney chimed in to confirm.

By signing younger, less known players and locking them in on long deals, we make the chance to sell them much more profitable.

You can see them discussing this in the clip embedded here:

💰 @Matt_Law_DT: Arsenal, 55 million for Madueke seems a lot but his wages will be very attractive because they're relatively low in comparison to similar players. Because the basic salaries are relatively low compared to other T5 clubs, Chelsea don't struggle to sell.
🎧👉… pic.twitter.com/bsg4TVhaDg

— London Is Blue Podcast ⭐️⭐️ (@LondonBluePod) July 19, 2025

Chelsea given major leg up over league rivals

Law went on to compare Chelsea’s transfer situation to other top teams because of this setup:

“It keeps the market open for Chelsea massive. Look at Villa with Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez – two players they should be able to sell if they want the money or need the money. But because of their ages and because of their wages they are actually finding it really tough to. The other problem that top 5 or 6 clubs have is that nobody can afford their players. But Chelsea because the actual basic salaries are relatively low compared to other clubs of similar esteem, they don’t struggle to sell players.

We hope that last statement doesn’t prove to be premature – we’ve got Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix among the many first team options eating up a wage budget right now.