Raphinha and the stars Chelsea can no longer sign this summer

Martin Macdonald

• 10 Mar 2022 11:55 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea will face a squad crisis this summer as the club is currently not allowed to purchase players or sell current ones for profit.

The sanctions against owner Roman Abramovich by the UK government means the Russian is not permitted to sell the club, while his assets are set to be pulled.

At the moment, the Blues cannot sell players, buy players, cannot sell matchday tickets, and cannot sell club merchandise.

They have also been limited to £20,000 in total to travel to away matches, starting with the Champions League match against Lille.

READ MORE: What are Chelsea allowed to spend money on following Abramovich sanctions?

READ MORE: ‘Our club is finished’ – Chelsea fans rage after Abramovich sanction

Chelsea are facing a disaster, as not only can they not sign reinforcements, but it is looking likely their defence will be dismantled.

What defenders have Chelsea been linked with?

With the club also not allowed to renew contracts of current players, they will lose Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta when their respective deals expire this summer.

That will leave Thomas Tuchel with Thiago Silva, Malang Sarr and Trevoh Chalobah as his only senior centre-backs.

Even before the sanctions, Chelsea were linked with numerous central defenders, with Jules Kounde emerging as their top target.

They came close to signing the Frenchman last summer, only for Sevilla to allegedly bump up their asking price near the end of the transfer window.

More recently, Wolves defender Max Kilman has been mentioned as being on their wishlist, as well as Barcelona's Ronald Araujo.

What midfielders have Chelsea been linked with?

The most prominent midfielder that Chelsea have been linked with is Jude Bellingham.

The England international is recognised as being one of the finest young midfielders in the world and will likely be at the centre of a transfer tug-of-war sooner or later, with every elite side reportedly interested.

Chelsea, previously, had the financial might to pull off a deal this summer but that is now no longer the case.

Declan Rice has constantly been linked with a return to Chelsea, having featured for the Blues as a youngster, while he is also a fan of the club.

However, Man Utd will now become favourites to sign the West Ham captain.

What forwards have Chelsea been linked with?

FootballTransfers previously revealed that Chelsea were planning to sign flying Leed winger Raphinha this summer.

The 25-year-old has two release clauses in his contract for buying clubs.

He currently has a minimum fee release clause of €75m, which means that Leeds cannot stop any club who bids that amount.

However, if Leeds are relegated to the Championship, his release clause fee will drop to €25m.

None of that is now relevant to Chelsea now, though.

Chelsea have also been involved in the conversation for the transfer of Dortmund superstar Erling Haaland, more so after Romelu Lukaku turned out to be a flop.

The Norwegian won't be emerging at Stamford Bridge.