Mauricio Pochettino, current US national team coach and former Tottenham manager, has stated that Chelsea should be stripped of their 2016-17 Premier League title due to financial fair play violations. On September 12 (CEST), Riath Al-Smarrai, a leading sports columnist at the Daily Mail, published a detailed analytical article examining the situation through data analysis, transfer dealings, and other aspects. Al-Smarrai argues that many of Chelsea's points that season were accumulated through "problematic players," and that Pochettino's assessment is entirely justified.

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Mauricio Pochettino's outburst against Chelsea this week is entirely justified. The truth is, Chelsea's 2017 Premier League title, where they finished ahead of his Tottenham side, is tainted by violations that Chelsea themselves admitted to.

By Pochettino's logic, Chelsea should have been stripped of that trophy. But we all know that never happened: Chelsea voluntarily disclosed secret payments exceeding £47 million to unregistered agents and third parties, yet received only a symbolic fine—lighter than a slap; it was barely a tap.

The total fine of around £20 million, agreed by the Premier League and FA earlier this year, is barely more than the compensation Chelsea received from Manchester City for their sacked manager. As a punishment, this is gentler and less effective than a badly missed penalty kick.

We all know why: after Chelsea voluntarily revealed irregularities in their old accounts, the authorities praised their "cooperative attitude." I read the FA's lengthy 63-page explanation, in which the committee lavished praise on Chelsea's "honesty."

However, Chelsea's current leadership faced no sporting sanctions for the mistakes of their previous owner (Roman Abramovich). The leadership's reasoning is that a large number of violations from 2009 to 2022 occurred during the Abramovich era, and they cannot overly punish the current ownership of The Blues (BlueCo).

As a result, Chelsea not only received no point deduction but three Premier League titles won during that period remain untarnished. Pochettino finds this absurd, and he is right. When we list the illegally signed players—Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, André Schürrle, Nemanja Matić—this "absurdity" could even escalate into "outrage."

I detailed this issue three years before Chelsea first voluntarily disclosed it. At that time, and following Pochettino's recent angry remarks, public attention focused mainly on Hazard.

In the 2016-17 season when Chelsea won the title, Hazard scored 16 Premier League goals, and these goals determined Chelsea's 7-point finish ahead of Tottenham Hotspur in May.

In 2012, Chelsea illegally poached Hazard from Lille. This dubious investment paid enormous dividends that season and many seasons thereafter.

A Times report last year revealed that negotiations between Lille and Manchester United collapsed because Manchester United refused to pay "off-book" payments to an agent, which would violate the rules; ultimately, Hazard transferred to Stamford Bridge for £32 million, and history shows us that the £20 million fine is negligible compared to the value he delivered to Chelsea.

But all of the above concerns Hazard. What about Willian? Let's focus on Willian alone.

Why mention him specifically? Because his transfer violation is directly connected to Tottenham Hotspur—in August 2013, Tottenham Hotspur nearly signed him.

He spent 8 hours at Tottenham's training ground and even completed a medical examination. But then everything changed dramatically: he got in a car and went straight to Chelsea. It turned out that Abramovich himself called Suleyman Kerimov, owner of Anzhi Makhachkala and a fellow oligarch, and redirected the Willian deal.

This transaction was one of the irregular activities and was also mentioned in FA documents released earlier this summer, though the names of Chelsea officials involved were obscured. The official believed that losing Willian would be a "major loss," and if Willian joined Tottenham Hotspur, it would be "adding fuel to the fire."

Pochettino was not yet Tottenham's manager when this poaching occurred, but he was their manager during the 2016-17 season. That season, Willian, like Hazard, performed brilliantly under Antonio Conte. I outlined some of his crucial contributions—decisive performances that turned losses into draws and draws into wins, impacts that can be quantified.

First, consider the match against Hull City in October 2016: Willian struck a world-class shot from outside the box to score Chelsea's opening goal, and the team ultimately won 2-0; two months later against Manchester City, level at 1-1, Willian beat Nicolas Otamendi, as usual gaining control first, then calmly scoring to secure Chelsea's victory.

Against Sunderland, he provided an assist, helping the team overturn a draw into a win; in the 4-2 victory over Stoke City, he scored to make it 2-1 and 3-2; and in the away match against Sunderland again, he opened the scoring.

The away match against Sunderland was a crucial victory, and of course, we cannot make definitive claims: perhaps another player might have performed similarly.

But this vague rhetoric only misleads lawyers and review committees. And we, as observers, can see clearly: Willian at his peak could single-handedly change a match, and finding a replacement would require someone of exceptional ability.

We estimate that replacement value at 13 points. Recall that Chelsea led Tottenham Hotspur by 7 points at that time, yet Chelsea still received no sporting sanctions.

Pochettino's anger is entirely understandable. He would likely be even angrier if he recalled the FA Cup semi-final that season—Willian scored the opening two goals in Chelsea's 4-2 victory and was even named man of the match by the Daily Mail's sports section. What about the other two goals? They were scored by Matić and Hazard, both illegally signed players. In this victory, the "problematic players" in the starting lineup scored all the goals, and the victory felt hollow.

When Pochettino spoke this week, one statement sounded less emotional but carried great significance: "If the rules were consistent, we could also have signed some players to strengthen our team and score more goals. I'm not complaining—this is a fact."

This statement easily brings Willian to mind. And speaking of Willian, it recalls other seasons—for instance, in September 2015-16 against Newcastle, he scored an 86th-minute equalizer, and Newcastle ultimately was relegated by just 2 points.

It is extremely difficult to retroactively assess the impact, large or small, on the pitch. But concluding that "sporting sanctions are unnecessary" is truly illogical.

Perhaps the authorities did not want to trigger a chain reaction, or perhaps they did not want to taint historical league tables, or perhaps, as we await to see how the Premier League handles Manchester City's far more serious violations, discussing all this is pointless.

But Pochettino is absolutely right that this is "wrong." His only mistake was assuming fairness still applies in his profession.

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