Chelsea may have to do with the players they currently have at their disposal after it was reported their transfer ban case will not be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) until after the transfer window.
The Blues were banned from signing players for the next two windows by FIFA after they were found guilty of breaching rules that govern the signing of underage overseas players. The denied any wrongdoing and took their case to CAS with the hope that will allow them to sign players this window at least. However, according to the DailyMail, the Blues will not be able to get their wish as CAS won’t rule on the case until after the transfer window.
CAS have published a list of cases that will be heard over the rest of summer, with Chelsea not appearing among them. The list of 18 cases starts today – June 12 – and takes the court up until August 14, well after the English transfer window shuts ahead of the new season.
Bizarrely, Chelsea were able to ask CAS to freeze their transfer ban while the case is considered, but they opted against that when filing their appeal. The latest setback now leaves Maurizio Sarri or his successor with the headache of going into the new season without any signings.
The transfer window in England shuts the day before the 2019-20 season begins on Friday August 9, after clubs once again agreed to continue with their policy of no players coming in after the start of the campaign. Meanwhile, according to the Daily Telegraph, Frank Lampard is set to become the club’s new boss after it was confirmed Maurizio Sarri is set to become the new Juventus manager.
The Old Lady have identified the former Napoli boss as the number one target to replace Massimiliano Allegri who was sacked at the end of the season. With Sarri set to leave, the Blues have made former player Frank Lampard as the man to replace the Italian after he impressed in his first season at Derby. The Chelsea legend led the Rams to the playoffs final where they suffered a heartbreaking loss to Aston Villa.
Lampard’s former teammate, Rio Ferdinand, believes the 40-year-old will do a good job if he gets the Stamford Bridge job. “If Chelsea are going to get a transfer ban I don’t think they can look anywhere but Frank. He and [Derby assistant manager and former Chelsea youth coach] Jody [Morris] know all the kids from 16 upwards.
“Chelsea have had the best young kids in the country for a while now and none of them get in the first team. If they want to change that there is no-one but Frank. “He is the perfect choice. People talk about experience but what experience did Pep [Guardiola] have when he went into [the] Barcelona first team? He trained the younger kids at the club. Frank knows the club and the players will respect him.”
Ferdinand thinks Lampard’s approach to youth is exactly what Chelsea have been crying out for with a number of the club’s promising academy prospects having been denied first-team opportunities in recent years. “I will actually be surprised if they look elsewhere,” the BT Sport pundit added. “They have tried with all these great managers.
No disrespect to [Massimiliano] Allegri and what he’s done at Juventus but they have had Carlo Ancelotti, they have had Antonio Conte, Sarri, Jose Mourinho, all managers who have done great things and never stuck with them.
“Are they going to continue doing that? And keep blowing money away with these managers who you have to pay up after two years? “Or are you going with someone who the fans will love to have back. Someone who the young players are going to say, ‘Frank is going to play us.’ He played [Mason] Mount every game he was fit, he played [Harry] Wilson every game he was fit. He trusts kids.
“His first season under mad pressure at Derby, he played all the kids. So he invigorates not only the first-team and the fans but the kids coming through. At a time when managers are scared and under pressure not to play kids I think it will be refreshing.”