3rd would be a remarkable achievement both in the context of the grossly mismanaged summer (following a 4th place finish the previous season), and also because it'd mean finishing ahead of Chelsea for the first time in 8 years. That on its own may not mean a great deal, but if it's paired with them failing to achieve CL football, then it could be very significant in the long term fortunes of both clubs.Â
It remains to be seen what effect if any the introduction of FFP will have, although the inactivity of the last window might suggest it's going to change things. A lot of Chelsea's excusing with regards to their huge losses recently posted was that they were in large part due to exceptional items, i.e. sacking managers and such. Getting rid of AVB is hardly going to help matters in that regard, which could indicate how desperate their need is to get the CL money this year. They look to be cutting it close already and if they miss out it could be very bad news for them.
If FFP is genuinely effective, then financially we're roughly level with Chelsea right now (although we should reassert ourselves as our commercial deals come up for renewal), which could make the next few months hugely significant. If we can push them out of the CL places this year, then they will likely be left with a completely unmanageable wage bill and neither the profit nor the Abramovich funding to restructure it. Granted their plan has always probably been to let a lot of their elder, high earning players go this summer anyway, but as we've seen, their replacements don't really look up to it.
