CHELSEA could be forced to have a mass clearout this summer to keep themselves afloat following the crippling sanctions imposed on them by the Government.
Blues owner Roman Abramovich has had his assets frozen by the Government due to his long-standing relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin – who launched an illegal invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago.
The sanctioning of Roman Abramovich has had huge repercussions for Chelsea Credit: Reuters
And the club could be forced to sell a number of their highest earners to stay afloat Credit: GETTY The sanctioning of Abramovich, who is now BANNED from selling the club, has had a devastating effect on Chelsea – who are currently unable to buy or sell players or pocket matchday revenue.
And footy financial expert Rob Wilson reckons the Blues brass will be forced to get rid of several of their high earners to balance the books should the Government grant them license to sell players.
He told Sky Sports: “I think that’s the real threat for the football club.
“If we park the potential administration if they can’t pay those players over the short term, I think over the summer we’re going to see a number of players having to, probably, be sold.
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Three SUSPEND shirt deal, ticket sales on hold as Abramovich club sale BANNED “I imagine that the license will be renegotiated with the Government to make sure any potential new buy can come in.”
Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertez, N’Golo Kante and Timo Werner would likely be the first players up for sale given their astronomical wages.
Belgium and Germany internationals Lukaku and Havertz are currently on whopping £325,000 and £310,000-a-week contracts respectively.
World Cup winner Kante pockets £290,000 a week, while the misfiring Werner takes home a cool £270,000.
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The freezing of Abramovich’s assets has left Chelsea in dire financial straits as they relied heavily on regular injections of oligarch’s cash since he bought the club in July 2003 for £140million.
The SW6 outfit currently has no money coming as they’ve been prevented from selling tickets and club merchandise.
Recent financial records have shown the club only have £16m in their cash reserves – meaning they’re unable to pay their whopping wage bill of £28m.
And as it stands, the Carabo Cup winners face going BANKRUPT on March 28 unless they reach can persuade the Government to allow them to sell.
The Government are open to doing so, but only if there are guarantees in place that Putin crony Abramovich won’t see a single penny.
Digital minister Chris Philp said: “As the licence conditions are written today the sale would not be allowed.
“If a buyer emerged then it would be open to that buyer or to the football club to approach the Government and asked for the licence conditions to be varied in a way that allowed that sale to take place.
“But to be clear, no proposal would be accepted which saw the proceeds of any sale ending up in an unrestricted bank account owned by Abramovich.
“He can’t benefit from the proceeds of any sale.”
If Chelsea run out of cash and go into administration, they’ll be slapped with a nine-point suspension – although it’s unclear when they’d be hit with it as a Premier League club has never been taken over by administrators.
British Billionaire Nick Candy is one of several parties interested in acquiring the west London club, but he’s been warned it will cost him a small fortune to run it.
Wilson added: “But those new buyers are going to have to have some seriously deep pockets because the running costs of the club are significant.
“They lost over £400million over the last five years, notwithstanding Covid.
“So the fundamentals of the club are not particularly great and those players may well move on.”
Wilson reckons Chelsea’s new owners will struggle to get a return on their investment, saying: “You can’t increase broadcast rights packages because they’re controlled by the Premier League.
“You can have a little control over your shirt manufacturer, we’ve talked about Nike just now, and you’re shirt sponsor.
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Pregnant blogger bombed by Russians who claimed she FAKED injury gives birth “They’ve got a pretty limited ground size as well. So as a potential investor, there isn’t a huge amount of value you can add.
“Unless the price is much, much lower than what we’ve seen quoted.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk