Chelsea ‘will have to sell a number of players’ under new owners

Football finance expert Rob Wilson says that Chelsea will have to sell a number of players in the summer even with potential new buyers of the club coming in.

Russian-Israeli billionaire Abramovich’s UK assets are now frozen in the wake of sanctions imposed by the UK government, except for Chelsea, with the west London club handed a special licence to continue operating.

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Chelsea’s sale remains technically on hold for now, but the Treasury could issue a new licence to allow a deal to go through – provided Abramovich receives no benefit.

But Wilson explained that because the “fundamentals of the club aren’t great”, Chelsea will likely have to sell a number of their prized assets this summer to balance the books.

He told Sky Sports: “The problem with Chelsea is you can’t really add value anywhere. You can’t increase broadcast rights packages because they’re controlled by the Premier League and they’ve got a pretty limited ground size.

“So as a potential investor there isn’t a huge amount of value you can add, unless the prices is much, much lower than what we’ve seen quoted.

“The real threat for the football club, if we park the potential administration if they can’t pay those players in the short-term, I think we’re going to see a number of players over the summer having to be sold.

“I would imagine the license will be re-negotiated with the government to allow a new buyer to come in. But those new buyers will have to have some seriously deep pockets because the running costs of the club are significant – they’ve lost over £400m over the last five years.

“The fundamentals of the club aren’t particularly great and those players may well move on.”

The investor thought to be leading the race to buy the club is thought to be property tycoon Nick Candy, with his vision for a redeveloped Stamford Bridge  thought to give him an edge.

A spokesperson for Candy confirmed the 49-year-old’s continued interest in Chelsea.

“We are examining the details of yesterday’s announcement and we are still interested in making a bid,” said Candy’s spokesperson.

“Clearly this is a time of great uncertainty for all Chelsea fans.

“In our view, no one is the owner of a football club – you are the custodian of it for the fans and the community.”