How does the Chelsea-Abramovich sanction impact Barcelona?

The repercussions of the sanction put up by the UK government on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic has effectively put a transfer ban on the club. This means the Blues can no longer sign new players – permanently or on loan – until further notice is issued.

This puts a big question mark over the future of the existing players, especially those who are out of contract at the end of the season. Now, the only plausible solution to get out of this muddle was to sell the club altogether, but since all of Abramovich’s UK assets have been frozen, this no longer remains an option.

It’s not that the internal operations have been stalled too. In fact, the players and the staff will continue to be paid, but no new expenses can be added. In short, Chelsea cannot really work on renewing contracts of those who will be without one at the end of the season.

How does the sanction affect contract renewals?

The big problem that Chelsea have, especially with regards to players’ renewal, is that as many as three first-choice defenders are set to be without a contract in June.

This includes Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta. And as mentioned in the publicly released documents, the Blues cannot really offer any of their players contract extensions.

Rudiger, once a Barcelona target, was in talks with Chelsea over becoming the highest-paid defender in the club’s history. He was likely to continue playing in London, but the sanction has aided the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and Juventus to pry on the given opportunity.

For Christensen, he was always bound for an exit after failing to reach an agreement in December, but Chelsea have managed to find a loophole in Azpilucueta’s deal. As reported earlier, the Blues had inserted a clause in their captain’s contract that would allow them to keep him for another year beyond his current deal.

And if the reports are to be believed, Chelsea will do everything in their power to exercise the clause.

Where does Barcelona come in the picture? 

It’s been already stated that Christensen is more or less a Barcelona player now after Barça’s director of football Mateu Alemany along with assistant sporting director Jordi Cruyff flew to London to complete the formalities. But the situation regarding Azpilicueta is now in disparity.

It is believed that Barcelona had offered Azpilicueta a two-year contract with an option for an extra season, but the current circumstances might see the Catalan club missing out on their prime target.

However, there’s still a slightest of opportunities for Barcelona to approach the deal. Back when Chelsea sanctioned the sale of Olivier Giroud, the Frenchman was out of contract but the Blues had an option for an extra year.

Rather, they decided to strike a deal with Milan for a nominal fee which was not more than €1 million.

If Barcelona can come up with a solution of such sort, fans might as well see the Spain international in the Blaugrana blue next season.