Chelsea “will definitely not be able to sign any players in the off-season” as it has emerged their appeal will not be heard until after the window slams shut.
The Blues have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against a two-window ban, but it has now been revealed that their appeal won’t be heard yet.
CAS, on Thursday, published a list of 18 cases, which takes the court up until August 14, well after the English transfer window shuts ahead of the new season.
Bizarrely, Chelsea were able to ask CAS to freeze their transfer ban while the case was initially being considered, but they opted against that when filing their appeal.
That means Maurizio Sarri, or, as expected, his successor at Stamford Bridge, will not be able to bring any players in to replace Eden Hazard and others.
Jose Mourinho is the latest name to be added to the list of candidates linked to the Blues job, with Frank Lampard, Max Allegri and Erik ten Hag also reportedly in the running.