Chelsea are pressing ahead with summer transfer plans despite sanctions against owner Roman Abramovich

Chelsea are pressing ahead with recruitment plans behind-the-scenes despite the club operating under special restrictions, i can reveal.

The club are currently unable to trade players or renew contracts while they remain under the ownership of Roman Abramovich after he was sanctioned by the Government for links to Russian president Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine.

While Chelsea technically became a frozen asset, the Government created a special licence that enabled the club to continue competing provided no income made its way to Abramovich and, as first revealed by i, decided to allow the billionaire oligarch to sell the club once the Treasury has signed off on the deal.

Player wages are due to be paid on April 1 and it is understood that the club will have no problem honouring their monthly payroll. It is thought Chelsea pay around £28m each month in wages.

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Indeed, the Government amended Chelsea’s licence on Wednesday to allow Abramovich’s company Fordstam Limited, which controls Chelsea, to inject up to £30m into the club so that it remains afloat.

i has also been told that Chelsea officials are continuing to make future transfer plans with the expectation that the club will be under new ownership and free of restrictions by the time the summer transfer window opens.

The current licence expires on 31 May and it is hoped a takeover will be completed by then. The summer international transfer window does not open until 1 July.

Before a takeover is complete, the chosen buyer will have to be cleared by the Premier League’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test. They will have to provide documented proof of funds, business plans and proposals for how they intend to the run and finance the club in future. Named directors with control over the club will also have to pass stringent background checks.

The Raine Group, the American merchant bank instructed by Abramovich to sell the club he purchased in 2003, has spent more than a week whittling down potentially bidders to a final short list of three or four.

Two consortiums are thought to be leading the way: the group led by American billionaire Ted Boehly, part-owner of the LA Dodgers, and another spearheaded by Sir Martin Broughton, the former Liverpool and British Airways chairman.

The Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs, put together a strong bid with backing from US hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin. But they faced a strong backlash after leaked emails revealed family patriarch Joe Ricketts made Islamophobic comments in 2019, for which he later apologised. The Ricketts family have tried to distance themselves from the comments by insisting Joe Ricketts is not part of the Chelsea bid.

But it has not stopped #NoToRicketts trending over several days on social media and the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust said on Friday that it was not satisfied with responses after meeting with representatives of the family when they flew to London this week.

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“It is essential that the new owners of the club has the confidence of the supporter base and demonstrate an understanding of the values that we stand for,” Chelsea Supporters’ Trust said in a statement. “That is why the strength of feeling towards the Ricketts family bid from Chelsea supporters cannot and must not be ignored.

“The CST are grateful to the Ricketts family for meeting with us this week. We challenged them on all of the points supporters have raised concerns about. However, our concerns about their ability to run an inclusive, successful club on behalf of our diverse supporter base around the world have not yet been allayed.

“It is for the Ricketts family to demonstrate how they will address supporter concerns – especially with regard to inclusivity, given both past and recent statements by members of the family, and they have not yet done that. They must do so publicly and they must do so urgently. If they are unable to do this and gain the confidence of Chelsea supporters, the CST Board does not believe it would be in the best interests of our members and Chelsea supporters for their bid to succeed.”

In response Tom Ricketts, Joe’s son, said: “My family and I are very grateful to all the fans and supporters’ groups who took time to meet with us this week and share their passion and concerns for Chelsea Football Club. It’s clear you have nothing but the best interests of the club at heart.

“It is now up to us to redouble our efforts and clearly lay out a vision for our stewardship of the club with diversity and inclusion at its heart. We have listened to all of your feedback – including from the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust – and are grateful that the door is still open for us to demonstrate our commitment to working with fans to protect the club’s heritage.”

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