Chelsea bosses ‘begging government’ for two things with club facing financial meltdown

Thomas Tuchel reacts to strange day at Chelsea

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Chelsea will meet with UK government figures on Friday to request two things to prevent ‘financial decimation’ after sanctions imposed on Russian owner Roman Abramovich, MailSport report. The 55-year-old was one of seven oligarchs to have their assets frozen amid Russia’s escalating attack on Ukraine.

On Thursday morning, drama unfolded as the government announced Abramovich’s assets, worth £3.2billion, had been frozen, stifling his attempts to sell the club.

In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich confirmed he was looking for a buyer after 19 years at the helm at Stamford Bridge.

However, recent significant developments mean that whilst he can still sell Chelsea, he’d be unlikely to receive a single penny of his £3bn valuation.

Ministers consider overseeing the sale and directing profits towards an independent charity rather than Abramovich’s charity that would benefit Ukrainians and Russians.

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It has left Abramovich with a horrendous ultimatum – agree to the government’s conditions and lose out on a vast fortune or let Chelsea, his beloved two-decade-long project, crumble.

Following the sanctions, Chelsea are directly impacted with a few worrying punishments, including being unable to sell merchandise at Stamford Bridge or online.

The club also can’t sell match tickets to home or away fans, and only existing ticket holders will be allowed to attend.

Next week, their trip to Lille in the Champions League could be an interesting one, too, as the club’s away travel budget has been capped at £20,000.

But most worryingly, the Blues can’t agree any transfers or contract renewals whilst under government sanctions.

It all but confirms that Thomas Tuchel will be losing three key defenders in Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger as free agents this summer.

Therefore, they will plead for the contracts embargo to be lifted when meeting the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on Friday as one of two requests.

Chelsea will also argue that the ticket sales ban is ‘impossible’ because of the almost-immediate financial ruin it could cause.

The same report from the Mail claims the club could run out of cash in just 17 days if the sanctions are not relaxed.

With Three already suspending its £40m shirt sponsorship deal, Hyundai, kit suppliers Nike and Zapp are also considering walking away.

Nike terminating their agreement would hit the hardest, with Chelsea likely to lose £540m in total from the remainder of the 15-year deal worth £900m signed in 2016.

The European champions’ playing staff demands almost £28m a month in wages, so the club’s reserves of £16m would be spent in 17 days with the loss of tickets and merchandise revenue, worth in excess of £600,000 every matchday.

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