Chelsea ‘will definitely not be able to sign any players in the summer’ as it has emerged their appeal will not be heard until after the window slams shut.
The Blues have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a two-window ban, but it has now been revealed that their appeal won’t be heard yet.
CAS have published a list of cases that will be heard over the rest of summer, with Chelsea not among them.
The list of 18 cases started on 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 was initially being considered, but they opted against that when filing their appeal. That means Maurizio Sarri – or, as expected, his successor at Stamford Bridge — will not be able to bring any players in to replace Eden Hazard and others.
The transfer window in England shuts on Friday, August 9 - the day before the 2019-20 season begins - after clubs once again agreed to continue with their policy of no players coming in after the start of the campaign.
