Chelsea’s hopes of signing Erling Haaland this summer were scuppered by the sanctions imposed on Roman Abramovich by the government.
The Russian’s spell as Chelsea owner is coming to an end after the UK government selected Todd Boehly as the preferred bidder to take charge of the club.
While news of the takeover will be welcomed by Thomas Tuchel, the sanctions have created big uncertainty over Chelsea’s future and it’s meant they’ve been unable to plan for next campaign.
The takeover should mean the Blues can once more compete in the market but many teams have already lined up their targets and ESPN claim the club have lost out on Erling Haaland as a result.
The Norwegian star was Tuchel’s main target last summer and Romelu Lukaku was only signed once it became certain that Dortmund would not sell.
A £62m release clause in Haaland’s contract means he can be signed this summer without negotiating with Dortmund but the scramble to sign the player has already started.
Manchester City have already laid the groundwork to sign Haaland over a number of months and the uncertainty over Chelsea’s owners meant they could not move ahead in talks.
Despite Chelsea’s unsuccessful pursuit of Haaland, there still remains uncertainity over Lukaku’s future.
The Belgian returned to Stamford Bridge for a fee of £97m from Inter last summer but he’s lost his place in the starting lineup to Havertz and he fell out with Tuchel over Christmas after a controversial interview in which he suggested he disagreed with the manager's style.
