Luiz Felipe Scolari will have to sell before he can buy in January, according to reports.
The Times claims that Chelsea are cutting costs across the board, and while Scolari thought he would be given some of the £28million set aside for the failed pursuit of Robinho in the summer, but he has now been told this is not so.
Scolari had hoped to strengthen his squad come the transfer window. He was reportedly monitoring the form of Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano in case Didier Drogba's injury problems continue, and may have looked for a midfielder to replace Michael Essien, who is out with a long-term knee injury.
Should Scolari choose to sell, the most likely candidates are Wayne Bridge, who The Times claims attracts regular offers from around the Premier League, Florent Malouda, who Roma are interested in, and Branislav Ivanovic, the Russian defender bought last January but who has only made one start for the Chelsea first team.
Obviously, this new sense of fiscal prudence is down to fears over the global credit crunch. It was reported last month that Roman Abramovich lost nearly £12billion in recent crashes, although these losses were dismissed as 'paper losses' by the Russian.
Chelsea aim to be financially self-sufficient by 2010, but their most recent financial results suggest this is a rather optimistic goal.
The club reported losses of £74.8million in June 2007, and earlier this year it emerged that Chelsea technically owe Abramovich £578million, after the Russian poured his money into the club in the form of an interest-free loan, rather than a donation. The club also owed a further £186million to assorted other creditors.
Your Comments
byebyeron
"Typical Arsenal fans getting excited about any potential problems that other clubs may be enduring. This is the most talkative they get, because they certainly don't make any noise at the Emirates or anywhere for that matter. "
LauzyLoz
"supergooners right...get real, arse are the fourth team"
mancumission
"Abramovich will eventually tire of his toy, especially when they win nothing again this season! hahaha Then where will they be? No European Cup for the rent boys! Money is becoming tight everywhere and he will call in his (interest free) loan when he finally realises that they aint going to be the European greats he had hoped for. I for one can't wait! "
MHardingLower
"supergooners i love the way u try and act like u know what ur talking about by repeating bits of info from the above article. Honestly mate i know exactly what the state of play is wiv my club so please feel free not to bore me with any more of your guff that u have just read and repeated from this website. Oh and goonerfazz u can shut it as well, did u enjoy Bentlys goal on wednesday?"
basuka
"money problems is nothing to chelsea so i would wory about "
HolyGoaley
"ok for everyone getting excited that Chelsea are going to crash, please remember this
>> There are a lot more billionaires now than 5 years ago
>> Chelsea are a top 4 team offering champions League football and are an upcoming advertisement worthy club
>> DIC and many more sheiks are still there who will not mind purchasing Chelsea if Abramovich does decide to sell.
So please stop spouting non-sese here ... i know the thought of chelsea getting relegated makes all you haters wanna masturbate, but sorry - no orgasm this time. "
ribar
"Ivanovic will be surprised to find out he is a Russian."
Supergooners
"JFC, I don't think you realise what Abramovich did. There is no money in trust. All he did was refinance the debt through a low interest loan. If we walks away, the debt is still there. Do you remember how close Chelsea where to financial collapse before he arrived? They came very close to going under. At some stage, clubs have to pay their own way. Its tight for the Gooner now but we are paying our own way and you aren't too far ahead of us now. As for Arsenal being the third team in London - Get real. "
byebyeron
"Oh dear, poor gooner. Third team in London you might say, there's Chelsea then Spurs and then Arsenal. Enjoy the game on Wednesday? "
imoscardotcom
"Errr goonerfazz, you're a bit of a retard aren't you? Clearly you have no idea how business works.
Dumbass."
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