Tottenham 2017 Title Debate Reopens
Tottenham 2017 title Mauricio Pochettino believes Tottenham should have been retrospectively awarded the 2016-17 Premier League title after Chelsea were found to have breached competition rules.
Pochettino’s Tottenham finished second that season, seven points behind Antonio Conte’s Chelsea, who secured the league championship.
The debate has resurfaced following a Premier League investigation into £47m in secret payments made to unregistered agents and third parties in connection with Chelsea transfers between 2011 and 2018.
The transfers investigated included Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic. Hazard, Willian, Luiz and Matic were all part of Chelsea’s squad during the 2016-17 title-winning campaign.
“If they admitted they broke the rules, the Premier League title was for the second-best team,” Pochettino said.
Chelsea Avoided a Points Deduction Tottenham 2017 title
Chelsea have received financial penalties from Uefa, the Premier League and the Football Association over various breaches, but Pochettino believes a fine alone does not adequately address the issue.
His argument has also attracted attention from supporters of Everton and Nottingham Forest, whose clubs faced points deductions for profitability and sustainability rule breaches.
The situation has raised wider questions about consistency in football’s financial regulations, particularly while Manchester City continue to await a verdict on 115 alleged Premier League financial rule breaches.
The central question is whether Chelsea’s undisclosed payments had any meaningful effect on their ability to build the team that won the 2016-17 title.
Hazard Had a Major Impact Tottenham 2017 title
Eden Hazard was arguably the most influential of the players connected to the investigation.
Chelsea signed the Belgian from Lille for £32m in 2012 after competing with several leading European clubs for his signature.
According to the investigation, seven payments totalling £5.6m were made between May 2013 and August 2016 to an unregistered agent “for the benefit of the club in connection with Hazard’s transfer”.
Hazard was outstanding during the 2016-17 campaign. He started 36 Premier League matches, scored 16 goals and provided five assists.
Only Cesar Azpilicueta started more league games for Chelsea, while Diego Costa was the only player to score more goals.
Hazard was named Chelsea’s player of the year, selected in the PFA Team of the Year and shortlisted for the PFA Player of the Year award.
His goals and assists also directly contributed to victories against West Ham, Southampton and Manchester City, with his performances arguably worth 10 points across four matches.
However, Hazard had already spent five seasons at Stamford Bridge by the time Chelsea won the 2016-17 title. His signing therefore did not immediately precede that campaign.
Willian Also Played a Key Role Tottenham 2017 title
Willian joined Chelsea from Anzhi Makhachkala in 2013. The Premier League investigation found that payments totalling £19.2m were made to two unregistered entities in connection with his transfer and that of Samuel Eto’o.
Although Willian was not a regular starter in 2016-17, he made 34 appearances, with 19 coming from the bench.
The Brazilian still produced eight goals and eight assists and made important contributions throughout the campaign.
He provided an assist in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Sunderland and scored twice against Stoke City in a 4-2 victory. He later scored in another 2-1 win over Stoke before assisting the winning goal against Watford in a 4-3 victory.
Those contributions helped Chelsea collect eight points across the four matches.
Willian’s transfer is particularly relevant to Tottenham because Chelsea reportedly secured his signing after moving ahead of Spurs in the race for the Brazilian.
Matic and Luiz Were Also Important Tottenham 2017 title
The Premier League investigation also identified £5.1m in payments made between 2012 and 2015 for talent identification services in certain European countries.
Those payments were linked to the registrations of Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic.
By the 2016-17 season, however, both Matic and Luiz were in their second spells with Chelsea.
Matic played 35 Premier League matches, starting 30, and recorded one goal and seven assists. His only attacking contribution that directly affected a result came when he assisted Chelsea’s opening goal in a 2-1 victory over Tottenham in November.
Luiz started 33 league games and was named in the PFA Team of the Year. He scored once, opening the scoring in a 1-1 draw against Liverpool.
Would Tottenham Have
Pochettino’s argument rests on the possibility that Chelsea’s undisclosed payments gave them an advantage in assembling their squad.
The former Tottenham manager suggested Spurs might have been able to sign players of similar quality had they operated under the same circumstances.
“Maybe with the same rules, if we apply the same things, maybe we could’ve signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals,” Pochettino said.
However, the available evidence does not establish that Chelsea’s rule breaches directly caused them to win the 2016-17 Premier League title.
Hazard and Willian had joined several years earlier, while Matic and Luiz had returned to Stamford Bridge before that season. Chelsea also finished seven points ahead of Tottenham.
Pochettino’s comments have therefore reopened a debate about sporting consequences for financial and registration breaches, but there has been no decision to change the result of the 2016-17 Premier League season.