CHELSEA were blocked from signing Russian star Arsen Zakharyan yesterday by British sanctions.
The Blues had agreed a £12.6million deadline day deal with the midfielder’s club Dynamo Moscow after activating his release clause following days of negotiations.
The 19-year-old was then all set for a switch to Stamford Bridge to link up with Thomas Tuchel’s squad.
However, Dynamo have now revealed that the move was blocked due to the sanctions the United Kingdom has placed on Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
The main stumbling block was the need to transfer the funds to a club based in Russia.
There was also the expected difficulty in obtaining a work permit for Zakharyan from the Home Office while Fifa’s rules on signing Russian players following the country’s invasion of Ukraine would also have provided a number of other complications.
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A statement from Dynamo confirmed: “On August 25 we received an offer from Chelsea for Arsen Zakharyan.
“For several days, there have been intense negotiations between Dynamo and Chelsea, in which our club took a constructive position.
“However, it is not possible to transfer a player in this summer transfer window for a number of technical reasons beyond our control.”
Agent Rafaela Pimenta also told Sport Express: “Today, it is impossible to close the transfer of Zakharyan in the summer transfer window.
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“This transfer is not frozen until winter, but it is possible.
“Now we are still working to ensure that Dinamo can get money from Chelsea.”
Zakharyan made 34 appearances for Dynamo last term, scoring nine goals and producing nine assists, as he caught the eye of several big guns across the continent.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
