The headline news in the footballing world this week has of course been the sanctioning of Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich.
In an official memo, HMRC claimed that Abramovich “is or has been involved in destabilising Ukraine…via Evraz PLC, a steel manufacturing and mining company…over which Abramovich exercises effective control”, the company which has been making “and supplying steel to the Russian military”.
This meant that Chelsea have essentially been frozen as an asset, although they do have a special licence to continue playing football and will be allowed to fulfil their fixtures.
The licence runs until the 31st of May and could have a serious impact on the club as they are currently not able to renew any player contracts - meaning all of Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta are set to leave for free in the summer when their deals run out.
Reece James to Manchester City?
Now, the Daily Mail are reporting that Chelsea's prospective new owners face a fight to convince a number of the club's top stars of their ambitions as they consider their futures.
It is added that there is a growing uncertainty among a number of the club's squad after the successful and lucrative Roman Abramovich era was brought to a halt on Thursday.
Both Reece James and Mason Mount were in line for much-improved new deals, but that is obviously unable to happen right now.
On James specifically, it is claimed that Manchester City are understood to have identified him as a long-term replacement for Kyle Walker, while Real Madrid are also interested.
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