Former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has fervently argued that Spurs should be retrospectively crowned Premier League champions because of Chelsea’s ‘illegal’ activity in the transfer market – and the numbers suggest he may well have a point. Chelsea pipped Spurs to the Premier League title under Antonio Conte in 2017, finishing the season on 93 points – seven clear of Tottenham’s 86 – but have since admitted to breaking the rules by making more than £47million in secret payments to unregistered agents and third parties to facilitate transfers. The Blues were handed a record £10.75m fine for the breaches, a sanction regarded by many football fans as little more than a slap on the wrist given what Chelsea went on to achieve with the team they had assembled. David Luiz, Eden Hazard, Willian, Nemanja Matic, Ramires, Andre Schurrle and Samuel Eto’o were the seven signings at the heart of Chelsea’s ‘illegal’ transfer activity under Roman Abramovich, with the first four going on to play key roles in Conte’s title-winning side. Had Hazard, Willian, Luiz and Matic not been at Stamford Bridge to score the 26 goals they managed between them during Chelsea’s 2016-17 campaign, Pochettino’s title claim would, at least in theory, check out – although there are some obvious caveats. Strike these goals from the record books and Chelsea would have finished the season on just 79 points, seven behind Tottenham who would have been crowned champions. Former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino believes Spurs should be retrospectively crowned Premier League champions for the 2016-17 season over Chelsea, who broke transfer rules Eden Hazard was one of seven players signed by Chelsea ‘illegally’ – the Blues paid more than £47million in secret payments to unregistered agents and third parties to facilitate transfers Tottenham finished second in the Premier League – on 86 points – behind winners Chelsea 2016-17 TABLE WITHOUT CHELSEA’S ‘ILLEGAL’ GOALS 1. Tottenham – 86 points2. Man City – 82 points3. Chelsea – 79 points4. Liverpool – 78 points*based on Chelsea results after goals from Eden Hazard, Willian, Nemanja Matic and David Luiz are removed <!- – ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/sport/football/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->
Of course, Chelsea would have fielded different players in their absence, who could well have scored in their place, while it is impossible to know exactly how those matches would have played out under such different circumstances. That aside, Chelsea’s first altered result that season came on the opening weekend, when Hazard scored the opening goal to help the Blues carve out a 2-1 victory over West Ham United.Scratch off that goal and Chelsea would have drawn 1-1, two points worse off.In December 2016, Hazard and Willian both scored during Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Manchester City at the Etihad, meaning another two points were directly gained from goals scored by ‘illegal’ signings.Later that month, Willian’s brace against Stoke on New Year’s Eve helped the Blues to a 4-2 win over Stoke City, who would theoretically have drawn without the Brazilian’s contribution. Another two-point deduction here puts Chelsea on six points worse off so far.On January 31, Luiz scored a superb free-kick to open the scoring against Liverpool, who ultimately came from behind to draw 1-1 at Anfield.Rule out Luiz’s goal and that draw becomes a defeat, at least in the context of this thought experiment, meaning another point is stricken from Chelsea’s tally. Hazard plagued the Hammers again in the reverse fixture at the London Stadium on March 6, opening the scoring as Chelsea triumphed 2-1, a result that would have otherwise been a draw and cost them two points. The penultimate fixture affected was the Blues’ 2-1 win over Stoke on March 18, when Willian opened the scoring before Gary Cahill struck a late winner. Remove Willian’s goal and another win becomes a draw, with Chelsea’s three points reduced to one.Finally, Chelsea’s 2-1 triumph over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in April came courtesy of a match-winning double from Hazard, meaning that without the Belgian’s goals, Conte’s side would have lost the game and failed to register a single point. Tot up the points deductions from those matches and Chelsea would have finished 14 points worse off at the end of the season, finishing on a tally of 79 with a goal difference of just 26 (rather than 52).The recalculation actually drops Chelsea down to third place behind Manchester City, who would have been four points better off because of the ‘draw’ at the Etihad in December and ‘win’ at Stamford Bridge in April.City, who finished Pep Guardiola’s debut season at the Etihad on 78 points, would instead have tallied 82 points and thus finished ahead of Conte’s Chelsea. Led by Harry Kane, Tottenham came close to their first Premier League title under Pochettino Willian (left) and David Luiz (right) also played a key role in Chelsea’s 2017 title-winning season CHELSEA’S 2016-17 RESULTS WITHOUT ‘ILLEGAL’ GOALSDate Match Actual result Result without ‘illegal’ goals Points lost Aug 15 Chelsea vs West Ham2-1 1-1 2 Dec 3 Man City vs Chelsea1-3 1-1 2 Dec 31 Chelsea vs Stoke 4-2 2-2 2 Jan 31 Liverpool vs Chelsea 1-1 1-0 1 Mar 6 West Ham vs Chelsea 1-2 1-1 2 Mar 18 Stoke vs Chelsea 1-2 1-1 2 Apr 5 Chelsea vs Man City 2-1 0-1 3 Total: 14 points While this recalculation should be taken with a huge pinch of salt, it does clearly display why Pochettino feels so aggrieved over Chelsea’s ‘illegal’ transfer business.The now USA manager said on Tuesday: ‘We should win one title, one Premier League. We should have been awarded it. They were punished. They admitted it. The title should be for the team that was second.’We deserve to be champions that year. We didn’t compete with the same rules. It’s impossible if some clubs play with offside and others don’t or one plays with VAR and another plays without VAR. For everyone the same rules and then the same capacity to create the best team.’He continued: ‘Maybe with the same rules we could’ve signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals. It’s not me complaining, it’s the truth.’I have no doubt and I’m not scared to say the truth. The Chelsea fans will be upset with me but if Tottenham broke the rules, I’d say we don’t deserve the title.’I don’t say they didn’t play well or that Conte wasn’t great. I don’t want this message twisted. But if you broke the rules, then “ciao”, you need to give it to another team.’