The new club of a former Chelsea player might have to pay over €1 million because of a choice made by their manager.
A former Chelsea player might end up costing his new club over €1 million in fines before officially becoming their manager.
Filipe Luis, who used to play left-back for Chelsea from 2014 to 2015, has made a name for himself as a coach with the Brazilian team Flamengo. He started by coaching their under-20 team and was promoted to head coach of the main squad in September 2024. Since then, he’s helped Flamengo win seven trophies, including the 2025 Copa Libertadores (the South American version of the Champions League) and the FIFA Challenger Cup.
Last year, Flamengo also reached the final of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup but lost to Paris Saint-Germain in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.
This summer, several European clubs showed interest in hiring Luis, such as Bayer Leverkusen and Crystal Palace. There were even rumors about him returning to Chelsea before they chose Xabi Alonso. However, Monaco looks set to win the race and should soon announce his appointment.
Monaco, who won Ligue 1 in 2017, recently let go of their former manager Sebastien Pocognoli after failing to qualify for the Champions League. One big challenge in signing Luis is that he only has a CONMEBOL coaching license, not the UEFA Pro Licence, which is needed to manage top European teams and tournaments.
According to Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Bayer Leverkusen backed out because they didn’t want to pay fines of up to €25,000 every time Luis managed a match without the proper license.
Monaco, on the other hand, are willing to pay those fines for now, while they try to get UEFA to grant an exemption. If UEFA doesn’t approve, Luis will have to wait until September 2027—after gaining three years of experience—before he can manage without a Pro Licence.
UEFA has fined clubs before for breaking this rule. For example, in 2020, they fined Irish club Dundalk €50,000 for a similar issue. If Monaco has to pay €25,000 each game throughout the Ligue 1 season without an exemption, the total fines could reach up to €850,000, not counting any domestic cup games that might push the total past €1 million.
A famous case is former Reims manager Will Still, who was fined €25,000 after every match he managed because he didn’t have the correct licence. Many fans on Twitter remember his early days in 2023 when he was working without the UEFA Pro Licence.
Will Still started as caretaker manager in October 2022 after Oscar Garcia left. He told The Overlap about how tough it is to get on the Pro Licence course. The players even told the board, “Will’s got to stay,” because the team was unbeaten in five games. The board agreed but pointed out he didn’t have the Pro Licence.
He explained, “I had my UEFA A Licence, which is the highest you can get before the Pro Licence. But getting onto the Pro Licence course is really tough. I was actually refused by the French federation and had to go to Belgium to get it.”
He added, “Every week we played against big names like Messi, Mbappe, Neymar, Verratti, and Sergio Ramos. It felt like being in a dream.”